Possible trade options for the Islanders

Garth Snow has been on the hunt for some sort of help for the Islanders. He’s talked with any number of fellow GMs in recent weeks.

Given his team’s 2-10-2 skid, there’s room to add just about anywhere, but here are a few names that have been mentioned around the league as trade bait and where, based on conversations with several people across the NHL, the Isles might stand in trade talks:

Joey MacDonald: The onetime Islander has bounced around plenty already this season. He’s available for almost nothing, so if there’s a crying need in goal, he might be in the mix should Snow simply want to add a more veteran body.

I started with goaltenders because I believe that’s where Snow is focusing his limited assets to make a deal. Calvin de Haan, his very noticeable undressing by Sidney Crosby hanging out there at the end of Tuesday’s game notwithstanding, could be a better option than flipping an asset for a struggling defenseman from somewhere else.

All teams, not just the Islanders, want their own prospects to succeed. Almost all of you are aware of that. A few would love a trade just for a trade’s sake, and that flies in the face of everything Snow has done in seven-plus years as GM as well as in the face of what 29 other GMs do every day. The NHL is not a trading league anymore, so the trade-happy Twitter folks should try to accept that. Apologies.

Anyway, there are some defensemen available:

John-Michael Liles. See Gleason above. Same situation.

So there’s a little breakdown. My feeling is a goalie deal of some sort is on the horizon, even with Nabokov back on the ice. The season is too far gone to still hope one of the three goalies the Islanders currently have finally starts to seize the No. 1 job.