Islanders In Trouble: Could Look To Make Trade

The New York Islanders have played a lot of games at home this season and haven't had great success in front of their fans. They have let the team know as the Islanders have slipped to third last in the Eastern Conference and are now below .500. The team has lost five games in a row and haven't looked as dominant as they typically do in their own end. While the struggles show in net and on the back-end, the team has failed to adequately score goals as usual.

The system may not be working like it used to and coming back year after year with relatively the same forward group hasn't helped out offensively. Maybe it is time for the team to shake things up a bit. Through 14 games, four key players have combined for just two goals on the season - Anders Lee, J.G. Pageau, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Pierre Engvall. Outside of Noah Dobson's four goals, there have been two goals scored by defenders this season for the Islanders.

The top players who have either produced offensively elsewhere or did so before changes were implemented to the Islanders system continue to struggle to score like they can. Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat lead this list and both only have four goals. So who is movable to help the Islanders come out of mediocrity? Contract-wise, Pageau makes the most sense because of the two-way play he provides. Lee's contract is looking worse and worse with only one goal and two points on the season as well as being slid down the lineup. The only three players that shouldn't be touched are Brock Nelson, Horvat, and Barzal. This means Kyle Palmieri could become a trade candidate if his scoring doesn't pick up to where it can and needs to be.