Islanders & Predators Emerging as Trade Partners

The Nashville Predators are headed for a fire sale this season and GM Barry Trotz is going to have to approach veteran Steven Stamkos on where he'd like his next chapter of his hockey career to be. The Preds are slowly creeping down the standings in the Western Conference, and Trotz is going to have no choice but to make a few moves.

Stamkos started slow this year but has turned it on of late. He enters the Christmas break with 15 goals and 22 points in 36 games this season, and is playing 17:21 per game. Stamkos holds a full no-movement clause on his contract and is owed $8 million AAV for two more seasons.

Hockey insider Chris Johnston scribed about where he felt Stamkos would wind up, and an interesting team made the mix.

I was tempted to propose a reunion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but there probably isn’t enough water passed under the bridge to allow that to happen.

But why not a move to Long Island, where former Lightning exec Mathieu Darche is now calling the shots? The Islanders are hanging in the playoff race, but could use an offensive boost to help them get there. After a sluggish start, Stamkos has been finding the net with much more regularity and still has the finishing ability to boost a power play.

Pairing him with a pass-first center such as Mathew Barzal might even allow him to turn back the clock.

The Islanders enter the holiday break with a 20-13-4 record, sitting third in the Metropolitan Division. They have just over $1 million in cap space and will certainly need to get creative to pull off a mega-trade to acquire Stamkos from the Preds. 

Photo credit: Bob Lee, Imagn Images