For some eastern conference teams, the trade deadline was fun to watch. Until 3 p.m. ET on Mar. 1, Islanders Twitter was tracking rumors of acquiring players like Matt Duchene and Jordan Eberle. However, all was for naught, as General Manager Garth Snow made no moves when the buzzer sounded.
Deadline Drag
Over the past 24 hours, there have been dozens of rumors circling including a call-up and down on the same day. Fans even went as far as tracking the Islanders plane to Dallas. The only thing missing was an acquisition which unfortunately never came to be. In the meantime, the Islanders will be accompanied by 2014 first round pick Josh Ho-Sang, who played his first NHL game in Dallas.
One question on fans minds is: Why wasn’t Garth Snow able to get any deals done?
There wasn’t even the annual depth addition like last year’s Shane Prince and 2015’s Tyler Kennedy. The team has not had a big-name pickup in ten years since Ryan Smyth came to Long Island. Snow’s history was not on his side when gunning for impact players and many fans are not surprised to hear that the team struck out in efforts to coax Joe Sakic to relinquish his star center.
Many fans are left wondering, what would have happened if an all-in Yoenis Cespedes-like trade did occur? That could have pushed the Islanders over the teams fighting for a playoff spot. When teams like the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins making those key trades to bolster themselves, this was a bad year for the Islanders to stand pat.
But the concern from some fans and Snow was that it would require too many high-level prospects.
For the last two and half months, it will be up to the current roster to win games.
The Islanders will continue their playoff push through their franchise-record nine-game road trip tonight in Chicago. They are 3-1 so far, after a tumultuous win in Dallas last night. This stretch is what will make or break the Islanders playoff chances going forward. The Islanders now will have to keep up the way they been playing and not think about any new players joining Doug Weight‘s team.
