The 2024 offseason is in full swing and players are being traded left and right from Pierre Luc Dubois going to the Washington Capitals, his fourth team in his career, to Jake Guentzel going from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Free agency is about to kick off and it’s shaping up to be a big one with some lucrative deals handed out.
Related: Islanders Accomplish Only Half of the Job at NHL Draft
The New York Islanders are generally a team that doesn’t make big moves and notably stays quiet in free agency. The thing is that general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello must look to make a splash with the Islanders becoming a stagnant team in dire need of change.
Players are already on the move and the Islanders are once again on the bench watching from a distance. With a handful of star players already off the table, Lamoriello must make Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs his top target. He’ll have to dive through a few hoops to make a deal work but it’s possible and something the Islanders must make a top priority.
Islanders’ Next-Best Option Following Guentzel Signing
The Guentzel trade is a tough blow for the Islanders, who had slight hopes of making a move for him. Sure, making a deal work for the star player was a pipedream and a lot would need to go right, but he checked off a lot of boxes. Lamoriello loves scorers and the Islanders needed a skater who could both find the back of the net and create scoring chances for the other players on the ice. Guentzel does that.
As much as he’d impact the Islanders, he’s going to be on the Lightning instead. The Lightning, like the Islanders, are watching their core slowly age and they needed this boost. Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point leading their top two lines will give any defense fits as they will be tough to stop.
The Islanders are left empty-handed and are now searching for the next-best option to make a difference in the forward unit. Marner isn’t the same type of player that Guentzel is but he would compensate for a lot of the issues the Islanders have. He’s a star player who can immediately upgrade the offense, especially an Islanders offense that needs a dynamic playmaker.
Islanders’ Draft Adds to Need to Acquire Marner
The Islanders entered this draft with the urge to add scoring to the system, and that’s what Lamoriello did. The Cole Eiserman selection adds a great scorer to the lineup and is arguably one of the best shooters from the recent class. Throw in Danny Nelson from the 2023 Draft and both Matthew Maggio and William Dufour from the pipeline and it’s safe to say that Lamoriello is invested in scorers.
The problem is that the Islanders lack playmakers both at the NHL level and in their farm system. Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson are both great at setting up scoring chances for their linemates, combining for 92 assists last season. The rest of the forward unit, on the other hand, has struggled to create offense.
Marner would be the playmaker for the Islanders. He would not only set up the team for success now but also in the long run. Eventually, the scoring prospects will be ready for the NHL and Marner would be a great facilitator to all of them. Until then, he’d be a key part of the top line creating scoring chances for both Barzal and Bo Horvat.
Maple Leafs’ Moves Reflect Urge to Keep Marner
The Maple Leafs have already made a handful of big moves this offseason including re-signing Max Domi and acquiring Chris Tanev from the Dallas Stars. While they let Tyler Bertuzzi leave in free agency, this team is once again looking to be aggressive and compete in the Eastern Conference. With that in mind, trading Marner, unless it’s for NHL-ready players, doesn’t make a lot of sense since he can help them win the Cup next season.
Keeping Marner for one more season is the most likely scenario but the Maple Leafs could still look to pivot and change things up. They have a new coaching staff in place with Craig Berube leading the team behind the bench and with Brad Treliving in his second year as the GM, changes could be on the horizon. With this in mind, a trade can still happen and the best time to move Marner would be this offseason when his value is highest.
What a Marner Trade Might Look Like
The Islanders must find at least three pieces and more importantly, NHL-ready players to make a deal with the Maple Leafs work. Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov, and Oliver Wahlstrom are all players who come to mind but none of them would sway the Maple Leafs. They would need to throw in either one of their core players like Nelson or defenseman Noah Dobson into the deal or send one of their top prospects like Dufour or Maggio to acquire Marner.
The haul would be significant to add Marner to the lineup, a player who can leave in free agency in the 2025 offseason. However, the deal would be worthwhile considering what Marner adds to the Islanders’ offense. He makes the other skaters on his line better and would take the offense to another level because of it.
Islanders’ Other Targets if Marner Isn’t Available
Even if Marner isn’t on the trade block, the Islanders can still make a splash if they acquire Nikolaj Ehlers or Patrick Laine. Both skaters have their strengths and when playing at a high level, they can be key parts of the offense. Laine and Ehlers both play the wing and it’s a specific need of the Islanders, making both ideal skaters to target in a trade.
If the Islanders don’t make a splash move, they can still make a handful of minor additions which oddly enough might make more sense considering the state of their roster. They have a top-heavy group where the depth is nonexistent. With this in mind, signing a few skaters to team-friendly contracts would bolster the depth and help round out the roster.
