Trade Deadline is Nearing

(I edited your title a bit — the deadline is actually March 3.)

I don’t see any Isles fetching more than a 3rd. Well Hunter would if traded, but I don’t figure that will happen (and BC will say that Garth told Logan that Hunter is part of the core and won’t be traded. Personally: Things change in a year. But I still don’t figure Hunter to go.)

Regardless, we have three weeks of games before the Olympic break, then a game after that break but before the deadline. I doubt activity will really pick up until the end of that break, when contenders know which if any Olympic injuries they will have to replace.

My thinking is a third rounder at best.

Yup, and my thinking is even that is a teeny bit optimistic- unless its a team picking late in the 3rd.

Biron = 3rd rounder. Yep…that sounds about right.

P.S. A poll asking what Biron would be worth would be cool (even though its like the 15th time what he’s worth in a trade has come up).

a second rounder for Biron although his lack of wins may work against him. It will probably depend on how badly other teams need goaltending and what other options are available. DP’s health seems a non-factor based on his performance to date.

The trade of other players (Weight, Sutton, Sim, and Park) will depend on how viable Islander playoff hopes are. Hunter isn’t going to be moved, period. Witt will not either. He has another year left at $3 mil per and I’m not sure if anyone would want him even if he were in the last year of his contract. The remote prospect of a deal for Roly has already been discussed. Garth will likely hold his fire until the Olympic break, sound out other GMs during the roster freeze, and make any possible moves just before the deadline. If we are at or near 70 points, he will likely do little selling other than Biron and may even do a little buying. We’ll see.

Biron’s value may be determined by what the other team is willing to part with and the extent to which Garth wants to tinker with the current lineup (which may not be much). The Kings, for instance, seem like an interesting trading partner. Guys like Jack Johnson and even Alex Frolov look like they might go at some point before the trade deadline. Do I think the Islanders have the tools to get a deal done, frankly no. But you never know. Despite that, I think a third round pick is fair value for Biron. His poor record aside, he’s still proven that he can carry a team to the playoffs and even win a few rounds.

Teams I see being interested: Ottawa, Buffalo, LA, Edmonton

As far as any tradable assets, the Islanders really don’t have that many; especially considering Garth’s stance on building from within the organization. Any proposed deal will have to be on his terms (to think that we were in shock that Charles named him GM just 3 short years ago). With the current lineup, they’ve proven they can play against the better teams. I don’t see any major roster shakeups in the coming weeks for any of the currently active players.

With Tambellini not being waived (for whatever reason I don’t know) and subsequently Nate Thompson (Go-Go fave or not, Nate did give this team his heart and soul and I wish him well) being picked up by the Bolts, it tells me that there are two possibilities 1) We should start the countdown to “Tambellini gets traded to some Western Conference team for a bag of pucks” or 2) We will see Tamby in the lineup for a bit of a showcase prior to the March 3rd deadline and let the other GM’s do the fishing instead of Garth dealing from a point of weakness and just trying to clear some $525,000 of cap space. Or neither. I’m just the armchair GM here.

There will be TWO Trade Deadlines this year:

Feb. 12th before the roster freeze for the Olympics and March 3rd, the official day. I would personally expect to see more player movement on Feb. 12th based on the number games down the stretch these teams will have.

TSN has a nice run-down of each team’s existing assets, in terms of who’s UFA, who’s got a NTC, etc. Obviously there’s not much there for the Isles (i.e. they shouldn’t be buyers and all they have for sale with any market value is Sutton and Biron), but it’s a nice reference other teams if you’re sketching out giant trades on a napkin.

TSN Links:
East | West

and I think Weight and Sim would command decent picks