New Jersey Devils Trade Deadline Profile: New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are the surprise team of the NHL this season. Thanks to their run to the top of the Metropolitan Division, they can make a good match at the NHL Trade Deadline with the New Jersey Devils.

What a run its been for the New York Islanders. After John Tavares left them in the offseason, they’re playing better than ever. They’ve hired Lou Lamoriello to take over as GM, and hired Stanley Cup winner Barry Trotz to run things behind the bench. It feels like they are this year’s New Jersey Devils.

Looking at them as a whole, it’s hard to predict what they might do in the playoffs, but not many people will give them a chance. Whether they play the Washington Capitals or Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, they will be underdogs. Even if they play the Columbus Blue Jackets, people will look at the stars on each side and might give the edge to the away team.

This isn’t to say the Islanders can’t make it far this season, but it really feels like they need some more pieces to really solidify this team.

The Devils don’t have a ton to offer them right now. Taylor Hall is not on the table, and thankfully Ray Shero made that clear. Nico Hischier is also not going anywhere. In fact, there’s really only one player that the Devils may be willing to part with, and would be a perfect fit on the island.

Brian Boyle is a Devils fan favorite, but he’s being wasted in his current role. In the Devils last game, they played him with Kurtis Gabriel and Kevin Rooney. That’s not a recipe for success. The Devils are in such a bad way with injuries they need to play Drew Stafford in the middle six. No offense to him, but the Devils signed him to be a fourth-line fill in. Now, things are in a bad way.

Boyle has been very good for most of the season, but how can he succeed in the position he’s in now? He’s still producing on the power play and penalty kill, but his 5v5 numbers can’t be doing well with those linemates. It makes sense to send him to a team he can excel on.

The problem is Boyle has said he doesn’t want to go anywhere. His family has grown past terrible sicknesses while with the Devils. He’s beat cancer while he’s been with the Devils. There’s so much that happened in such a short time off the ice, one can’t blame him for wanting to stick around the area.

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Luckily, if the Devils traded him to the Islanders, his family wouldn’t have to go anywhere. His commute only gets a little longer, but his family doesn’t have to up and move yet again. He’s been with five teams over his 11-year career. He’s spent most of his career in this area. If the Devils think there’s a possibility to trade him and then re-sign him in the offseason, then they need to keep him close. If they trade him to San Jose, then he will feel like he’s been cheated by this franchise.

What is Boyle worth on this market? Likely, a decent amount. He could be especially valuable to the Islanders.

Boyle’s strength is his ability to play in literally all phases of the game. He’s become especially good at being a net-front presence on the power play that tips in goals and snipes them from short range. He can keep the zone, and hold off defenders with the best of them. This would really help the Islanders 26th ranked power play. He’s also been playing on the Devils penalty kill, which just a week ago was ranked second in the league. The Islanders are tied for 19th.

There’s one major problem, the Islanders draft picks are barren. They are missing their second, third and fourth-round picks this season. They have the Flames second-round pick. The Devils will likely use Boyle to get themselves draft picks, and use other trade picks to get prospects. So, what do the Devils do?

Well, they could take a late-round pick this season, and settle for a better pick next year. So the trade looks something like this, Brian Boyle goes to the Islanders, and the Devils receive a 2019 sixth-round pick and the 2020 second-round pick. It keeps Boyle happy, and he might just rejoin the Devils in the offseason. The Islanders won’t feel what they really lost until next season. Then, the Devils get to build their assets for a future trade or to build up their prospect pool.