I cannot see a scenario in which the Islanders trade Barzal.

Isles pass. Barzy brings more to the table

in reality NYI are probably looking for a player like Debrincat to play alongside Barzal

Yeah that’s an easy no I would think for the Isles

Not even close, Try adding Dach as well and Lou still says No.

Barzal is the best player in the deal, without question. But the Hawks need to improve their overall depth, not deplete it. In their Cups years the Hawks had incredible depth (with the exception of the 2015 defence) and that’s what they need to replicate.

The value actually isn't bad (I'd want a little more), but Barzal isn't going anywhere. He's the face of the franchise. The only player I'm realistically trading him for is Jack Eichel.

Oh most definitely, he'd be insanely good on the Islanders. But we can't afford him unless there's compliance buyouts or Chicago takes on salary, which they can't.

You're looking at this from the CHI point of view. I'm a Hawks fan and know that a package of Debrincat/Strome is a really big deal. This appears to be as the superstar version of quantity vs quality. from the NYI point of view...they want to add guys without giving up their stars. It's why trading for superstars like Erik Karlsson cost soooo much just as pending UFA/rentals....AND THEN get mega contracts.

In reality the Islanders are hoping for a cbo, or 2, and that Barzal takes a bridge deal. Fitting Barzal, Pulock and Toews on a flat cap isn't going to be easy...

CBO isn't happening

If there are two CBOs, we can sign Barzal to a long-term deal. I think he should take a bridge deal regardless, but if he only wants a long term deal and there are two CBOs, we can give him one.



They very well could. I think it's more likely they don't happen, but there's definitely a chance. The NHL has so many bad contracts, this is a great way to get rid of them.

So whats the plan for when theres 0 CBO's and Barzal will only take a long term deal?

We'll have to give up assets for teams to take contracts away (Boychuk, Ladd, Komarov, and Clutterbuck). Leddy thankfully has some value. I also wouldn't want to trade Bailey but if we have to then we have to.

Most teams are gonna be in a cap crunch with the cap not increasing and no CBO most likley. There are a few teams like Detriot and Ottowa that will have the space for cap dumps, but most teams won't want those anchors of contracts with all the financial uncertainty. You will have to pay a lot to move them because like 24 other teams are going to be in the same situation of shedding salary

But see that's what I'm saying. The Islanders aren't the only team that needs to sign their high-level RFAs while circumnavigating their bad contracts. Even if they don't have RFAs to sign, there are all these teams that have bad contracts and can't even be players in free agency. I have no idea where Taylor Hall is going, there's practically no market for him.

One problem is which team has cap space, 81.5 no cbo all RFAs signed, to trade for bad players on bad contracts???

Yeah, that's definitely possible. We can trade Boychuk and assets for another expensive RHD, but less than Boychuk (Colin Miller for example).

not miller. He's dahlin's D partner. Buffalo fans don't view him as a cap dump at all

I was using him as an example.