Semyon Varlamov Had Two Knee Replacements
In a post-deadline roundup, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period indicated that the New York Islanders put forward a strong effort to trade Anthony Duclair. Pagnotta didn’t articulate if the Islanders got close, but he did say that Duclair was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade.
Although nothing came together at the deadline, Pagnotta did report that the Islanders attempted to trade Duclair earlier this year, which he used his no-trade clause to block. If New York is intent on moving on Duclair in the summer months, his trade protection will drop to a 16-team no-trade list, offering increased flexibility.
There’s no questioning why the Islanders want to move on from Duclair. The team is operating fairly close to the upper limit of the salary cap, and dealing away Duclair’s $3.5MM salary would provide some breathing room. Despite an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign, Duclair has made up for his value this year, scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 57 games, averaging 13:19 of ice time per game.
Islanders’ Max Shabanov Out Day-To-Day
The New York Islanders’ Monday practice was laden with positive injury updates, including the brief return of Pierre Engvall, Alexander Romanov, and Sergei Varlamov at various points around practice. Even with the positives, New York will need to adjust their lineup, as winger Max Shabanov recovers from a day-to-day, lower-body injury per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner.
The Islanders iced depth winger Kyle MacLean and listed Shabanov as a healthy scratch in Saturday’s win over the Calgary Flames. MacLean contributed one assist to the Islanders’ three-goal effort. That brought him up to seven points in 48 games this season. MacLean has spent many of those games in a fourth-line role that should continue on until Shabanov returns to a lineup role. New York could also lean on Marc Gatcomb, who has scored four points in 36 games this season.
Shabanov has had a tough time transitioning to the NHL after a standout season in Russia’s KHL last season. He finished the 2024-25 season with 23 goals and 67 points in 65 KHL games, the third-most points in the league. That production made Shabanov a top free agent last summer. Multiple teams were in on the race to sign the stickhandling wizard, with the Islanders ultimately winning out.
New York began the season with Shabanov in a middle-six role. He scored 10 points in his first 19 NHL games, while averaging just over 14 minutes a game. That hot streak was followed by a nine-game stretch where Shabanov only scored one point, beginning in mid-December. He kicked the bug for a bit, only to fall into another cold streak recently, with one point in his last 12 games.
The Islanders have responded to the dwindling scoring by demoting Shabanov to a fourth-line role and even healthy scratching the scoring winger. He sits with four goals and 16 points in 42 games in his NHL rookie season. A short-term injury will offer Shabanov a chance to rest up after a tough stretch and prepare to once again contribute strong scoring as the Islanders push for their first playoff appearance since 2024.
Brayden Schenn Offers Insight On Trade
Few would have predicted the Islanders to become his fourth organization, but the team has a strong shot to return to the postseason where they’ll hope to win a round for the first time since 2021.
Tonight will be emotional for Schenn who was a constant presence in St. Louis, appearing in all 82 games four times as a Blue. The veteran is surely energized in his second line center role with the opportunity to help the upstart Islanders continue to surpass expectations.
Anders Lee Hopes To Retire With Islanders
The New York Islanders have undergone a lot of transformation in recent years. Many of the team’s cornerstone pieces have moved on – with Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson traded away and Josh Bailey, Cal Clutterbuck, and Matt Martin calling their playing careers to a close. Amid those major shifts, and the development of New York’s next generation, Islanders captain Anders Lee said there’s “no doubt” he wants to retire an Islander per RG’s DJ Siddiqi.
Lee has spent his entire NHL career in New York. The Islanders landed him in the sixth-round of the 2009 NHL Draft, amid questions about the high school dual-athlete’s future. He committed fully to hockey with a move to the USHL that turned into four seasons at the University of Notre Dame. Like he did in high school, Lee managed strong scoring in every season of his junior career, ramping him nicely into a debut with the Islanders in 2013.
Lee didn’t play through his rookie NHL season until the 2014-15 season. He was an immediate impact in New York, netting 25 goals and 41 points in 76 games. That season still stands as one of only six seasons where an Islanders rookie scored at least 20 goals, a list most recently added to by defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
With that performance, Lee took off. He became a consistent scorer near the top of New York’s lineup and reached 34 goals, then 40 goals, in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons respectively. The Islanders named Lee team captain on the heels of those performances, following the departure of John Tavares. The Islanders blazed their way to the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals in Lee’s second season wearing the ‘C’, their deepest playoff run since the 1993 playoffs. New York wasn’t able to pull above the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning and have only returned to the postseason in three of the six seasons since.
But the 2025-26 campaign seems different. The Islanders stand third in the Metropolitan Division, only one point and one game behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in second place. Much of their resurgence has been driven by Calder Trophy-favorite Schaefer, though the Islanders have also received strong performances from Ilya Sorokin, Mathew Barzal, and Bo Horvat. A 35-year-old Lee has also continued to stand tall, netting 15 goals and 35 points in 64 games, good for fourth on the team in total scoring.
With that mix of top-end firepower and performing depth, the Islanders are well-positioned for another strong run in the postseason. They will have to negotiate a new deal with their captain on the other side of the playoffs, following the end of his current seven-year, $7MM contract. Lee’s scoring and lineup role have both dwindled since he last signed a contract – but he still brings an impact worth hanging onto.
New York is projected to carry $15.21MM in cap space into the off-season, per PuckPedia, with the majority of their lineup locked into multi-season contracts. That will make re-signing Lee a top priority before free agency opens. Convincing him to take a slight discount from his current salary – perhaps down to $6MM per season – could leave the Islanders with plenty of space to add a difference-maker on the open market.
Horvat Fined For Unsportsmanlike Conduct
- New York Islanders centerman Bo Horvat was fined $2,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the Islanders’ Saturday win over the San Jose Sharks per Frank Seravalli of Victory+. While delivering choice words to the Sharks’ bench, Horvat reached over and flicked the visor of winger William Eklund. He was not assessed a penalty on the play. Horvat has 27 goals and 44 points in 55 games this season, including one goal scored in Saturday’s 2-1 victory. He will stick in a premier lineup role and hope to make up his decreased funds with his on-ice performance.
Poll: Which Deadline Day Pickup Will Make The Biggest Impact?
The 2026 Trade Deadline was stalled before it had a chance to launch thanks to a rare December blockbuster that sent Quinn Hughes across the Western Conference. Hughes has since scored 39 points in 31 games with the Minnesota Wild, putting together an impact with his new team that no player in the league could hope to match. Through a quiet Deadline, a few moving pieces could bring enough of a boost to bolster their new team’s chances of making the playoffs or contending for the Stanley Cup.
The top candidate to make a big splash is center Nazem Kadri, who rejoins the Colorado Avalanche after averaging 27 goals and 64 points per 82 games played with the Calgary Flames, across four seasons. Kadri was a constant source of offense on a Flames deep who saw their supplies diminish as the years went on. Then again, he reached his career-high in scoring with an 87-point season in 2021-22, his final year in Colorado. Kadri earned his first Stanley Cup ring that year and now rejoins the Avalanche in the middle of their best season since. He will hold an important, middle-six role either in relief of Brock Nelson‘s second-line role or in bringing a power-punch to Colorado’s depth. Leaving behind a #1 role in Calgary could kneecap Kadri’s offense but joining a team like Colorado could be enough to bring it back up.
Another easy choice is Anaheim’s acquisition of career-Washington Capital defenseman John Carlson. The deal was finalized just after 1 AM ET on March 6th, when much of the hockey world, and Carlson himself, were asleep. In the quiet of the night, Anaheim pulled off a monumental move to bring in one of the league’s top offensive-defensemen. Even in his age-36 season, Carlson has racked up 10 goals and 46 points in 55 games with the Capitals. He has proven to still be an effective scorer even into his sunset seasons, though got bumped out of Washington’s top-defender role by the emergence of Jakob Chychrun. Instead, he will head to the West coast to challenge Jacob Trouba for the role of top-right defense on the Pacific Division’s top team. He is currently nursing a day-to-day, lower-body injury but Carlson could really click with Anaheim’s fast-moving, hard-working offense when he steps into the lineup.
A pair of St. Louis Blues will look to do enough to join this list as they head to the Eastern Conference. Defenseman Justin Faulk was acquired by the Detroit Red Wings for an expensive package. The Red Wings will need to pipe him into a key role to justify their pricey buy. Luckily, they’re in need of a high-motor, third-string defender who can bring oomph behind the top pair of Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider. Faulk stood as St. Louis’ top defenseman, and main play-driver from the blue-line, even as his overall performances began to slip. In competition with Ben Chiarot and Axel Sandin Pellikka, it should be easy for Faulk to emerge as the caterer of offense away from Detroit’s top pair.
Meanwhile, Brayden Schenn will hope for improved minutes as he joins a playoff-contending New York Islanders club. Schenn’s role in St. Louis dwindled to a support presence in his final years, usually spent platooning the center role with one of the Blues’ young prospects. He hit an offensive wall this season as a result – just 28 points in 62 games – but is only one year removed from scoring 18 goals and 50 points, with a positive plus-minus. Schenn has slowed substantially in his mid-30s, but he remains a dangerous shooter and effective playmaker. If the Islanders can help him find some pseudo-tempo, he could be a candidate for a streak of shooting luck.
Who do you think will leave the biggest mark for his new club? Use the 2025-26 In-Season Trade Tracker to see the list of Trade Deadline day moves and vote below!
Which NHL Trade Deadline Pickup Will Make The Biggest Impact?
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COL - Nazem Kadri, C 39% (338)
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ANA - John Carlson, D 25% (216)
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DET - Justin Faulk, D 17% (142)
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NYI - Brayden Schenn, C 12% (104)
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Other (Comment Below!) 7% (58)
Total votes: 858
Photo courtesy of Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports.
Semyon Varlamov Unexpected To Return This Season
- Arguably winning deadline day, the New York Islanders provided a few updates on a few injured players. According to Ethan Sears of the New York Post, there is no change to defenseman Alexander Romanov‘s recovery timeline, who is expected to return in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for veteran netminder Semyon Varlamov, who isn’t expected back this season and has likely finished his NHL career.
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Islanders Sign Jean-Gabriel Pageau To Three-Year Extension
The New York Islanders have continued their busy day. According to a team announcement, the Islanders have signed center Jean-Gabriel Pageau to a three-year extension. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reported that Pageau will earn a $4.85MM salary on the extension. PuckPedia later added that he’ll have a full no-trade clause in the first two years of his deal, which will convert to a 16-team no-trade clause in the final year.
At the beginning of the season, few would have expected Pageau to re-up in Long Island. Playing out the last season of a six-year, $30MM contract, Pageau was believed to be an early trade candidate considering that the Islanders were largely viewed as a rebuilding club.
Instead, the team caught fire under a new front office regime and the emergence of standout defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Poised for a postseason spot, New York will come out of deadline day with Ondřej Palát, Brayden Schenn, and a new contract for Pageau.
Factoring in the acquisition of Schenn, many believed he would become the heir-apparent to Pageau down the middle of the ice for the Islanders. Now, the team will have formidable center depth for the next three years, and that’s without including youngster Calum Ritchie.
Although he didn’t become the second-line center the Islanders were hoping he would become, Pageau has remained extremely consistent. Over the last five years, Pageau has scored 70 goals and 183 points in 363 games, typically netting between 35 and 40 points. Additionally, he’s one of the best faceoff takers in the NHL, averaging a 57.2% success rate in the dot over that stretch.
The only drawback from the Islanders’ perspective is that this extension will take Pageau through his age-36 season. There’s a good chance that Pageau’s offensive capabilities will have dropped off by then, and a $4.85MM cap hit is a chunky price for a center that may be isolated to a fourth-line role by then.
Regardless, it’s clear that New York was intent on rewarding their players at the deadline. There’s a strong rejuvenation happening in the organization right now, and it’s clear the front office wants to keep the core together for the next few seasons.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.
New York Islanders To Acquire Brayden Schenn
The New York Islanders are finalizing a trade to acquire veteran center Brayden Schenn from the St. Louis Blues, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The Islanders have confirmed the deal. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun has reported its full terms: the Islanders are getting Schenn for a first-round pick, third-round pick, veteran forward Jonathan Drouin, and goalie prospect Marcus Gidlof. Per Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network, the first-rounder going to St. Louis is Colorado’s 2026 first-round pick, the one New York acquired in the Brock Nelson trade from last season.
Per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, the Islanders were on Schenn’s 16-team no-trade list, but Schenn has decided to allow the trade to go ahead. 
Schenn, the Blues captain, has been at the center of significant trade rumors over the last few months. His inclusion in a trade today, assuming it is completed and confirmed, is part of a wider effort by the Blues to re-organize their competitive efforts in a more future-oriented direction.
While the 34-year-old is under contract for an additional two seasons at a $6.5MM cap hit, the Blues may not believe they are in a position to legitimately compete for a Stanley Cup within that time frame. As a result, they appear to have given Schenn the chance to chase the second Stanley Cup championship of his career on Long Island.
The Islanders sit third place in the Metropolitan Division and have one of the game’s most promising young players leading their resurgence: 2025 No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer. Today’s move confirms the Islanders’ seriousness about competing for a Stanley Cup in the immediate term, even while the future face of their franchise is still just 18 years old.
The addition of Schenn provides a jolt to New York’s depth at the all-too-important center position. The club has most recently been utilizing 21-year-old Cal Ritchie as its second-line center. While the 2023 first-rounder is a promising young player, he’s not an ideal fit for that role on a team that is looking to make a deep playoff run.
Schenn, on the other hand, is an almost perfect fit for that role. While his numbers are down somewhat this year (28 points in 61 games as the Blues have struggled overall) he did manage 50 points last season and has been a steady top-six forward for much of his career. With Schenn likely to be plugged in directly to the Islanders’ second line, the team instantly becomes one of the league’s deepest teams down the middle.
With Bo Horvat manning the first line, Schenn on the second, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Casey Cizikas in the bottom-six, the Islanders not only have a strong group of four centers, they also have the flexibility to keep Mathew Barzal on the wing, where he has excelled.
While the Islanders are without question strengthened by this trade, the deal is not without some risk. Schenn turns 35 in August, and has two more years remaining on his deal. He hasn’t quite played up to the standard of a top-six center in St. Louis this season, but it’s still to be determined whether that says more about where Schenn’s game is at, or about the state of the Blues as a whole. In any case, if Schenn experiences age-related decline that impacts his playing abilities, the Islanders will have paid a hefty price for a player who isn’t what he once was.
With that said, there is also the possibility that the trade rejuvenates Schenn, and the chance to play for a playoff contender gives him something of a second wind. We’ve seen numerous veterans remain capable contributors as they progress deeper into their thirties, capably adjusting how they play to fit how they age. It’s also entirely possible Schenn goes down that path, making it so the Islanders have added a second-line center with more than two years of team control. Putting it that way, a first-rounder, third-rounder, and a prospect is hardly an unfair price to pay.
From the Blues’ perspective, the move falls in line with what has become their hockey operations department’s modus operandi: preparing for the future. With Alexander Steen set to assume lead decision-making authority, today’s trade adds at least one premium future asset to an already growing stockpile.
While they’ll surely miss Schenn both on and off the ice, the move clears the way for 2023 No. 10 pick Dalibor Dvorsky to receive even greater on-ice opportunity. If this trade can spark additional growth from Dvorsky, while also adding key draft picks and prospects to the Blues’ system, they’re likely to count it as a win.
The addition of Drouin may have been made to help balance the money being taken on by the Islanders, but there is some rationale behind his addition from the Blues’ side. Set to turn 31 this month, the odds are against him playing a role on the next contending Blues team. But with St. Louis likely to strip away further veteran talents this summer, there is the chance Drouin receives an opportunity to play regularly in the top-six in Missouri. He’s a player who never quite fit on Long Island, but excelled playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps he finds similar chemistry with Blues star Robert Thomas down the stretch.
With another year left on his deal at a $4MM cap hit, it’s not totally out of the question that Drouin seizes the opportunity ahead of him with the Blues, and becomes a trade chip for next year’s trade season, which would mean Schenn’s trade could deliver further future value to St. Louis.
Also included in this deal is Gidlof, a big goalie prospect who was a 2024 fifth-round pick. He’s been a tandem goalie in the SHL over the last two years, playing in a total of 41 games for Leksands IF. This season, he has gone 9-15-0 with an .896 save percentage. A little over a year ago, Gidlof was considered one of New York’s better prospects. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked him the No. 3 prospect in the team’s system, writing that he “has legitimate NHL upside.”
With starter Jordan Binnington‘s time in St. Louis potentially set to come to an end at some point over the summer, the inclusion of Gidlof in this deal represents further investment by the team in the future of the goalie position, a position in which the Blues have a somewhat uncertain future.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Max Shabanov Open To A Trade
Last year, winger Max Shabanov was a highly sought-after free agent from the KHL after putting up 67 points in 65 games with Traktor Chelyabinsk. The Islanders were the winners of those sweepstakes with the expectation that he’d be able to step in and contribute right away.
However, things haven’t gone quite as planned so far. The 25-year-old has just four goals and 12 assists in 40 games this season while being a frequent healthy scratch as of late. He’s averaging just shy of 14 minutes per game on the campaign but given that he’s on the outside looking in at a lineup spot, it appears he’s open to a potential change of scenery. Stefan Rosner of The Elmonters reports that Shabanov is open to a trade in the hopes of receiving a larger opportunity on another team.
Shabanov is certainly affordable for most teams as his entry-level deal only carries a base salary of $975K. While he has $3.5MM of potential performance bonuses in his contract, $2.5MM of those are ‘B’ bonuses which he clearly isn’t going to reach while he hasn’t met the criteria to unlock any of his four ‘A’ bonuses either. Should he be dealt and reach any of those, the acquiring team would be responsible for the payment and salary cap charge.
Because Shabanov was capped to a one-year contract in the entry-level system, he’s slated to become a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer. His performance so far isn’t setting him up for a big payday but a change of scenery with a bigger role down the stretch could boost his earning potential.
New York enters today with a little over $6MM in LTIR space, per PuckPedia, so GM Mathieu Darche will have some options in a potential Shabanov trade. He can take on a bigger contract if he finds a player that’s a better fit for their lineup instead of being capped at trying to match money as some buyers are stuck trying to do at the moment. Given how many teams were interested in Shabanov last summer, it wouldn’t be shocking to see at least a few of them kick the tires on trying to get the winger into their system.