The trade deadline has come and gone, with some teams making splash trades while others made a few minor additions. Lou Lamoriello did something he never did in his tenure as general manager (GM) of the New York Islanders. He sold… sorta. He traded Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche in a big move that gave the Islanders two big pieces.
Related: Brock Nelson Embodied the Islanders’ Latest Recent Success
That trade was all from Lamoriello, and the final day of the deadline was quiet. It’s typical of Lamoriello to take the safest path at the deadline and in free agency, and he did that by making only one trade. He didn’t overhaul the roster, but he didn’t “run it back” as he tends to do this time of year. It leaves the Islanders in a better spot, but not by much, and that’s ultimately what makes this trade deadline feel like a push. Not a win or a loss but somewhere in the middle.
Lamoriello Gets Strong Return in Nelson Trade
The Islanders need young NHL-ready players, prospects, and future draft picks, all of which they lack despite being a team that isn’t close to contention. So, Lamoriello traded Nelson for Calum Ritchie and a first-round draft pick. The timeline for a draft pick helping out the team is unknown, but Ritchie is a prospect who can be on the NHL roster as early as next season.
Nelson is an elite talent who multiple teams were looking to acquire at the deadline. That said, he wasn’t going to bring back a significant haul. At the most, the Islanders were getting three pieces in a return, and at the very least, he was bringing back two. Ideally, the Islanders would have gotten an NHL-ready player, but they got close to it with Ritchie, who is an elite forward prospect in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
The farm system isn’t great, and the American Hockey League (AHL) team is historically bad, as the Bridgeport Islanders are on pace to win 15 games this season. With the Ritchie addition, the Islanders have a few prospects with star potential, with Cole Eiserman, their 2024 first-round pick, looking great at the amateur level as well. It could allow the Islanders to retool faster than expected.
Lamoriello Holds Palmieri
The big knock on the Islanders and Lamoriello is that they kept Kyle Palmieri after trading Nelson. The return for Palmieri wasn’t going to be great, and he wants to stay with the Islanders, but moving him would help this team out in the big picture. Even if they…
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