The offseason will be an interesting time for the New York Islanders. They have a lot of questions that must be answered for a flawed roster. They barely made the playoffs and have a low ceiling with an aging roster and a team that is middling in the Eastern Conference. This is a team in need of elite talent, particularly scoring, both in the top-six and in the later lines.
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A subplot to the offseason is not this one but the 2025 offseason. Meaning, that the Islanders have a lot of integral players on their roster who will play next season on expiring contracts (it’s also shaping up to be a stacked free agency class for the NHL at large but that’s a topic for another time). The Islanders have Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, Noah Dobson, and Alexander Romanov all heading to free agency and this is the offseason to address that.
These four skaters have been pivotal to the Islanders’ success in recent seasons and the team must figure out which path to take with each of them. They can re-sign them to a short or long-term deal, trade them now while their value is highest, or let them leave in free agency. The final option is a last resort and the one nobody wants to see but might be necessary while the other three are the ideal options for a team looking to remain competitive.
Noah Dobson: Extend Long-Term
Noah Dobson signed a short-term “bridge deal” in the 2022 offseason as the Islanders locked him in for three seasons. Two seasons into the deal, he’s become the team’s top defenseman and one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. This is the time to give him a long-term deal. The Islanders can wait until the 2025 offseason but his value is only going up from here on out.
He proved that the 2022-23 season, one where he scored 13 goals and added 36 assists, wasn’t a fluke. He scored 10 goals and 60 assists this season but more importantly, stepped up on the defensive end of the ice as well with 4.5 defensive point shares and 180 blocked shots all with a team-leading 24:31 ice time. With the rest of the Islanders’ defensive unit starting to age and struggle on the offensive end of the ice, Dobson has been the bright spot and is the future of the unit.
The problem the Islanders will have with the deal they give Dobson is that it makes everything else they do more complicated. His contract will likely be in the $8 million per season range and with the team already possessing minimal room to maneuver cap-wise, this deal won’t help the cause. So, it’s one the Islanders must give out with caution knowing they are locking up a defenseman who is only continuing to improve.
Brock Nelson: Extend or Trade Now
The Islanders are at a crossroads with Nelson since a trade might be the best move to help them reboot their roster. They can move him this offseason for at least two pieces and by next season, the team will be younger and have a new look. However, Nelson is the type of player they want to keep around as one of the faces of the franchise. He’s become a cornerstone of the team and ideally, he signs a long-term deal to retire as an Islander.
With Nelson, as much as he probably wants to stay, he also doesn’t want to take a pay cut to do so. He’s still playing at a high level and his contract should reflect that. The Islanders can meet in the middle with a three or four-year deal that keeps the 32-year-old center on the team until his late 30s, but if there’s anything the team has learned in recent seasons, he’s capable of aging gracefully.
It’s going to make this offseason in particular interesting. A trade is a reasonable option and the ideal time to get one done would be now, when his value is the highest and the clock is ticking to get one done. Pushing it off puts more pressure on a trade deadline move and the same applies to a contract extension as the team has numbered days before they lose Nelson to free agency for nothing in return.
Kyle Palmieri: Trade
Palmieri has become a key part of the offense in recent seasons with 63 goals and 61 assists since he was acquired at the 2021 Trade Deadline. It makes him a player the Islanders would want to avoid trading as he’ll remain a valuable scorer next season and in the future seasons if they choose to re-sign him. That said, he would get a good return in a trade and is the ideal player to move if they want a roster reset.
Palmieri is at the backend of his career but can still field a valuable return, possibly a top prospect, in a deal this offseason. Teams that see themselves one scorer away from contending will pounce on him and the Islanders must keep that in mind. Trading him doesn’t signal that the Islanders aren’t buying into this season rather it helps them enter the new season with a team that isn’t stale and the same from the past few seasons.
Alexander Romanov: Short-Term Extension
With the Islanders paying their core and a handful of complementary pieces, Romanov could be the odd one out in the 2025 offseason. If they can’t afford him, they might part ways instead either through a trade or in free agency. He’s a restricted free agent (RFA) which gives them leverage but his contract value could force their hand.
It would be a shame if that’s what they did since Romanov’s been a big part of their defense. He led the team with 4.8 defensive point shares this season and is the hard-hitting, shot-blocking, and fast-skating defenseman that this team needed. The Islanders benefitted from the three-team trade in the 2022 offseason when they acquired Romanov for the 13th pick but now they must decide if he’s an integral part of the roster or not. As a result, they might look to give him a short-term extension that pays him what he’s worth.
Other Moves the Islanders Must Consider with 2025 Class
The Islanders will be inclined to prevent some of their best players from heading to free agency next offseason but it’s easy for them to look ahead to what could be a big free agent class in the NHL. If they stay quiet this offseason and allow a handful of contracts to come off the books, they will have the cap space to make a splash with some notable free agents available.
Some of the skaters that are projected to become free agents include Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner, Jaccob Slavin, and Victor Hedman. Sure, some of these skaters are older and giving them a long-term deal could backfire, but adding any of them to the roster will provide the Islanders with a core that they can build a contender around.
What should the Islanders do this offseason with their notable 2025 free agents? Let us know in the comments section below!