Opening Night

I'd honestly think about this deal if I were the Islanders. Dillon isn't super necessary but turning 2x$5M of Bailey into 2x$3.9M of Dillon and a wild card goalie prospect, and all it costs is a 2nd? I'd think long and hard about it - it would give Salo a little more breathing room to develop and you can probably recoup that pick next summer trading Dillon in his walk year to a team needing LD help.

I like the premise of the Islanders deal,...I just see Berdin as backing up Hellebuyck next year and would hate to move him without giving him a real shot. If we were to swap out Berdin with someone of similar value, I'd do it. Stanley deal is fine by me!

I like the idea of both deals, but I have a different approach:

The Stanley deal is fine. We need space for Heinola and Samberg. If Heinola isn't on the roster during opening night he will ask for a trade.

Trade both Dillon and Schmidt in separate deals. That Dillon deal you have is alright, but instead of Berdin I would flip the pick acquired in the Stanley deal. Then trade Schmidt in a separate deal for a pick. I feel like Berdin might win the backup spot over Rittich this season, last two seasons for Rittich have been BAD, like really bad.

Also I love Kovacevic, but I think Gawanke is better.

My only concern is a Dillon-Mayfield is slowwwwww and provides zero offense.

Agreed, I don't love that end - maybe go Dillon-Dobson & Romanov-Mayfield in this case?

It's not perfect either way, but it's one of the more creative ways I've seen of moving Josh Bailey's hit off the roster. And next summer you can see if Dillon can play on his offhand well and take over Mayfield's spot at RD3; if he can't, I'd feel much better trying to shop a 33 y/o LD on a $3.9M expiring deal than a 34 y/o winger on a $5M expiring.