Conor Garland has been thrust into the epicenter of New York Islanders speculation with the NHL’s trade deadline looming on Friday, with general manager Mathieu Darche keen on rewarding his team for exceeding expectations and fighting their way into the thick of the playoff race with 20 games to go.
Multiple reports, including NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner, have tabbed Darche and Vancouver well into talks regarding the 29-year-old. The Islanders need at least one more game-changer in their top six after losing Kyle Palmieri for the season back in November.
Jonathan Drouin, Anthony Duclair, and Max Shabanov simply aren’t cutting it, either.
Garland certainly has the motor to inject even more of a tenacious attitude within the high-flying Islanders’ dressing room. He is known for his relentless style of play, quick on his feet, and unafraid of the dirty areas. He is also an all-situations talent, contributing to both the power play and penalty kill — a 200-foot player that seems made for the Islanders’ long-standing philosophy.
A change of scenery might be exactly what the veteran winger needs. He is languishing within a dysfunctional Canucks franchise amid a disastrous season, and his production is at an alarming low: seven goals and 19 assists in 49 games.
At his best, he’s a perennial 20-goal scorer, but is that what the Islanders truly need?
They already have an abundance of 45-to-50-point players with high motors. What appears to be the most prudent need is a legitimate goal-scorer and finisher that can create a bona fide first line, help out with the power play, and allow head coach Patrick Roy to flex Ondrej Palat to the second line so that there is less of a reliance on, say, Drouin or Duclair.
Perhaps Garland is a low-cost option in terms of trade price to do that, and Darche will hope that he can catch lightning in a bottle with that change of scenery. Next year marks the start of a six-year, $36 million extension, and if the Islanders can eat that, the less they would have to part with in terms of young capital.
