What’s next for the New York Islanders?

The New York Islanders, yet again, came up just short this spring.

Just like last year, the Islanders were dropped in the semi-finals by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Still, this was another successful season on Long Island. The Islanders might not boast much star power, but they’ve proved that they aren’t a team to take lightly. In three seasons with Barry Trotz behind the bench, the stingy, defensive Islanders have won six playoff series.

What’s next for the Islanders?

General manager Lou Lamorellio’s top priority will be opening up some salary cap room in order to afford raises to a few key restricted free agents. The Islanders have roughly $6,000,000 in open cap room right now and @Adam Pelech, @Anthony Bauvillier, and @Ilya Sorokin are in need of new deals.

One way for New York to open some room could be making a side deal with the Seattle Kraken. A few years ago, the Islanders paid a big price to get the Golden Knights to take Mikhail Grabovski’s contract off of their hands.

@Andrew Ladd has two years left on his deal at $5,500,000. Dumping that contract would be huge for the Islanders, but Seattle would surely ask for a lot in order to do so. The play might be for the Islanders to leave a quality defender in @Nick Leddy exposed. Seattle taking him would open $5,500,000 in cap room.

Beyond the restricted free agents, Lamorellio has a handful of unrestricted free agent veterans to make decisions on. @Casey Cizikas, @Andry Greene, @Travis Zajac, and @Kyle Palmieri are all eligible to hit the open market this summer.

It’ll be a difficult summer of maneuvering in order to make things work, but Lamorellio should be able to work some magic.