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NHL Trade Deadline: Will Islanders make any trades?

By Nick Ziegler

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The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching on March 2nd, and for hopeful playoff teams like the New York Islanders that means deciding on whether or not to make trades to improve.

According to the New York Post, the Islanders are going to be remaining quiet when the NHL trade deadline comes in early March. Unless something crazy happens the Islanders should be in the playoffs this season, and with a young roster, selling out for a possible championship isn’t the plan.

The Islanders were active last season at this time, as well before the NHL trade deadline they acquired Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres for Matt Moulson, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. The hope for bringing Vanek in was to create the best first-line in hockey with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo, but Vanek’s time in New York was short.

Feb 9, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Thomas Vanek (26) against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Canucks 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

After Vanek turned down a contact offer during the season from the Islanders, they traded him off to Montreal at the deadline.

General manager Garth Snow had a very active offseason for the Islanders in their last year at the Nassau Coliseum, which is a main reason for their success. In free agency Snow was great adding goalies Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson to help the Islanders’ defensive issues.

In addition to upgrading at goalie, just before the season started, Snow would pull off a big trade with the Boston Bruins to acquire defenseman Johnny Boychuk for a second-pick.

Just after the trade for Boychuk, Snow would pull off another big deal for defenseman Nick Leddy. Leddy didn’t cost the Islanders any picks however, as they traded Ville Pokka, T.J. Brennan, and the rights for restricted-free-agent goalie Anders Nilsson.

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Leddy has been great for the Islanders so far this season, and he was recently rewarded for that strong play with a seven-year $38.5 million extension.

Acquiring Leddy and Boychuk will most likely be the final trades Snow makes this season, as the Islanders don’t have much to give draft picks wise. They would also be foolish to trade away some of their young talent that is already succeed in the NHL such as Anders Lee, Ryan Strome or Brock Nelson.

The most important thing for the Islanders will be to simply get healthy, as they’ll need Kyle Okposo, Mikhail Grabovski and Casey Cizikas at 100% for the final stretch of the season. The Islanders aren’t a perfect team by any means, with steep prices in the trade market, the Islanders best plan is to keep what they already have.

Next: Are the Islanders Closer to a Title than the Rangers?

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