This season was the fourth straight trade deadline in which the New York Islanders did not make a significant trade. That’s not because GM Lou Lamoriello fears making deals—far from it. But this is another season in which the Isles have found their legs late in the year, have some momentum going, and are opting to run with the guys they’ve got.
The Islanders have been a bit goal-starved, and adding some kind of offensive help up front would’ve ideally given them a boost in their efforts to make the playoffs. Although the Islanders weren’t out there looking for a big fish like Jake Guentzel, they could’ve snagged a playoff-tested and proven scorer like Reilly Smith instead.
The Islanders are in that funky spot where they can’t be giving away first-round picks, and they don’t have the prospect base that helps land key players either, but with the position the Penguins are in and how they’re crashing hard to earth, picking off a player like Smith, who has struggled in Pittsburgh, might not have taken much.
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