What Deadline?: Islanders acquire winger Pierre Engvall for 2024 third round pick

The hot new thing at this year’s NHL trade deadline is getting deals done early. The Islanders kinda kicked things off around the All Star Break by getting Bo Horvat, and a number of other players have been moved in the last two weeks or so. With the actual deadline just a few days away on Friday afternoon, Lou Lamoriello struck again, acquiring winger Pierre Engvall from Toronto today for a third round pick in 2024.

The 26-year-old Engvall has 12 goals and nine assist for 21 points in 58 games this season, his fourth in the NHL. He set career highs in goals (15) and assists (20) last season. He’s listed as playing both wings and is big boy at 6’-5,” 219 pounds. He’s also crazy handsome.

Since I know absolutely nothing about this guy, here’s a couple of scouting reports. “Likes to carry the puck in transition” sounds like a nice skill to have, especially on a team like the Islanders that doesn’t have a ton of other guys that fit that bill.

Sounds good, I guess? But there’s always a catch. Here’s Weird Islanders: The Podcast! guest Justin Bourne with a review of the player live on his radio show while the trade was going down (“not bad at all but frustrating”).

Here’s a goal Engvall scored against the Islanders last season. Do more of this, except for them.

Here’s the other rub: Engvall is a UFA at the end of the season, so he might not be here long. He’s coming off a one-year, $2.25M deal, so we can assume he’ll want more to stick around, but who knows. Maybe he’ll like the beaches and golfing on Long Island.

Still, a third rounder in a draft that’s a year away is a fair price to pay for a guy that could be useful, particularly with a number of key forwards being out of the lineup and you’re in a heated playoff race. And if he looks a little familiar on the ice, there might be a reason for that.