But the main point remains and that is simply that there is NO CAP SPACE at all for the Islanders. What kind of hockey trade do you make with no cap space?? If anything the Islanders need to shed salary but with no expiring contracts bar Cizikas none will be made. Anything else is a pipedream. As the Isles are using all their LTIR they cap space is not pro rated this season as it normally is.
Even Detroit haven't got massive amounts of cap space and have plenty of UFAs too. They will be in perfect position in the summer with lots of teams up against the ceiling to sign good FAs at a discount. There is no way they will take on any of our crap. But for argument's sake I can see the Isles trading for Bobby Ryan for a 3rd, or maybe even Ryan for Hickey and a 2nd. Detroit will sell off all their UFA at the deadline and pick up plenty of mid round picks.
It makes no sense for the Isles to pay any team to take on Hickey alone, simply because he only eats $1.2 million or so of the cap and has one more year to run. It's Ladd and Komarov who are hurting us and they are unmoveable.
The Islanders will need all their picks going into the expansion draft, especially with the draft looking likely to be moved into next season or to 2022. There they will have to pay dearly for Seattle to take on one or two bad contracts and the Kraken will make out like bandits
I will keep this very simple, a reasonable hockey trade could be something like C/RW Sam Gagner ($850,000 and an impending UFA) and LD Jon Merrill ($925,00 and also an impending UFA) for Hickey and the Isles or Colorado's 2022 second rounder.
The money easily works this season, the Isles acquire some veteran depth up front (Gagner is having a surprisingly good season and can be moved around in the lineup) and on the blueline (so they don't have to use Aho if they don't trust him and an injury occurs). All while completely shedding Hickey's $2.5 million for next season, which at least helps alleviate a bit of the overall cap crunch.
Detroit adds a second rounder for their troubles, which is only paying out $833,000 over two seasons if they want to buy Hickey out.
A second rounder for that is very fair and both teams benefit.
Leo is also NOT unmovable going into the final year of his contract. He has one year left with a $3 million cap hit but only makes $2 million in real money. Leo is probably easier to trade than Hickey, because he is still a viable NHL player and can be bought out over two years at only $666,667 in real money.
Leo would have a slightly bigger cap hit than buying out Hickey, but a team like Detroit could actually use him and probably wouldn't opt to buy him out. But if they do, it doesn't really impact them right now.
I also would prefer to keep Uncle Leo around for that final season and simply bury him in the AHL, for a $1.125 million cap savings, and have him on hand if needed as depth.
With respect to next year, the Isles three key players to extend are Beauvillier, Pelech and Sorokin. There are other moves that will need to be made, but those three are the important contracts.
The Isles have a little over $2 million in cap space right now and, just going the conservative route, moving Hickey now frees up $2.5 million, you bury Leo and Ladd for $2.25 million and they have Boychuk's $6 million in LTIR to work with.
That is almost $13 million, which might be enough to get it done, especially if the Isles go for bridge deals on Beau and Sorokin, with the intent to offer long-term deals once the cap crunch is over and more cap space is available.
But odds are a player like Leddy or Bailey will be selected by Seattle (probably Leddy, since he is a very good player with only one season left on his deal), so there should be more than enough cap space without having to do anything too crazy.
And if Lou has figured out a way to send Ladd to Robidas Island, then it gets even easier. If that is the case, Seattle isn't getting squat in material incentives. There are options.
