NHL Rumors: 3 New York Islanders Trade Candidates

The New York Islanders have done absolutely nothing this offseason as general manager Lou Lamoriello has been sitting on the sidelines watching the business go by. The team is loaded with average players in bad contracts and frankly options are limited at this point. While the Isles have $11 million in cap space to work with, at this point it appears they haven't been interested in any of the big names on the free-agent market. This leaves us with some potential trades coming before next season, let's examine three Islanders who could be shipped overboard on Long Island:

Semyon Varlamov

The veteran netminder surprisingly wasn't moved before July 13 when free agency began as the goalie movement has been crazy this offseason. With only one season left on his contract, Varlamov is a prime candidate to be moved and if not before the start of next season, before next season's trade deadline. He's coming off a year where he posted a 2.91 GAA and a .911 SV%, certainly not numbers to write home about but just above NHL average. His 16-team no-trade list is likely what's holding things up to this point.

Josh Bailey

Someone who has been involved in trade rumors for a few seasons now, Josh Bailey is one of the only Islanders forwards without any trade protection. However his contract is protecting him to this point as he's due $5 million in both of the next two seasons. Bailey recorded 44 points in 74 games last season and can play up and down most lineups. If the Islanders want to shake it up, moving one of their core forwards will certainly do the trick.

Mathew Barzal

Speaking of core forwards, there's been a few rumblings the Islanders would consider moving Barzal if it meant a game-changing forward was coming back in return.....Matthew Tkachuk? To this point, all signs point to St Louis on the Tkachuk front, but it was curious to see Barzal's name floating on the trade market. He's one season away from becoming a restricted free agent and to this point it's hard to say where his heart lies on sticking around Long Island. We'll have to wait and see how this season plays out with new head coach Lane Lambert.

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