New Jersey Devils: 5 Kyle Palmieri Trades We’d Love To See

The New York Islanders are actually okay in terms of salary cap situation since they put Anders Lee‘s $7 million on LTIR. So, getting Palmieri to the Islanders without going over the cap won’t be a problem. That will make things a little easier for Lou Lamoriello and Tom Fitzgerald to get a deal done. This would also be a good situation for Palmieri himself since he won’t have to leave his wife or his home during a pandemic.

Making the deal work will be a little more complicated. Obviously, Devils fans will want some of the top players/prospects the Islanders have to offer, but some of them are already making contributions to the NHL squad. The Islanders aren’t going to take away from the current foundation that has them fighting for first in the East Division and a possible Stanley Cup contender.

So, the Devils look down the prospect list and go for high upside at a needed position. Robin Salo has been very good for his Örebro HK SHL team. He put up 30 points from the blue line, and he’s shown poise while playing big minutes for a team looking to make a push for the playoffs. The Devils have plenty of offensive defensemen, but Salo is good in all three zones. He could develop into a really good defenseman.

Ruslan Iskhakov is another former 2nd-round pick like Salo, but he’s a little further away from NHL readiness. He’s currently playing in Europe after leaving the University of Connecticut during the pandemic. Not sure if he plans on going back, but he’s played well in Finland this season. He has 37 points in 57 games.

Since the Devils are getting two pretty good prospects in this deal, they have no leg to stand on to ask for a 2nd-round pick. A 3rd-round pick might be a little too spicy, but it’s a bad draft so teams might be more willing to give up the assets. The Devils will retail a quarter of Palmieri’s salary if they don’t see the need to retain other salaries in other deals.