Pair Of Islanders Join Offseason Trade Board As Team Could Perform Major Re-tool

The New York Islanders aren't in a great spot and this season didn't go according to plan. The team took a step back, but injuries definitely didn't help. The Islanders just haven't proven they can win with the makeup of their team being how it is, so something has to change.

Frank Seravalli lists two of the more important Islanders as trade targets. These two include JG Pageau and Noah Dobson for different reasons.

Pageau would have been more of a contract dump to free up space last year, but turned things around. With Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat as the 1-2 punch up the middle for the Islanders ideally, Pageau is a bit overpaid and his money could be used elsewhere to upgrade. Due to his better season in 2024-25, teams might be willing to pay something to bring the veteran center in. He has always been great defensively and can produce at an average rate offensively. He is stellar in the faceoff circle and strong on the penalty kill, both things that teams really look for, especially in a third line center.

Dobson put up his worst offensive season since 2020-21 and dropped from 70 points last season to just 39 this season. As the number one defenseman who logs over 23 minutes per night and plays on the power play, it is a bit concerning.

Dobson is just 25 years old and the question is if he can return to the elite offensive defenseman he can be on the Islanders or at all. He isn't too consistent and something that is concerning is his original contract ask of $11 million AAV. That just isn't going to happen with any team after a 39 point season and if the Islanders draft Matthew Schaefer first overall, that is a younger replacement with a potential higher upside on the back-end.

The Islanders have a lot of defensemen, but moving on from Dobson would still hurt. His trade value is still very high for what he can bring, so it will be interesting if the pending RFA can't come to an agreement on a new contract with the Islanders and the team chooses to move on.