The New York Islanders made a big splash yesterday, acquiring Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the Ottawa Senators. They proceeded to lock him up long-term after that, signing him to a six-year deal with a $5 million AAV.
For thoughts on the trade itself,
check out my article from yesterday. As for the contract, it’s… okay. The term is fine, as Pageau isn’t likely to regress until maybe the last year or two based on his age. It keeps him around and establishes three solid centers for years to come.
As for the money, I suppose it could be worse but it’s also not great. I’d say the ideal price to get him at is probably just north of $4 million per year, with a $4.5 million AAV as the absolute maximum. Pageau may be on pace for about 55 points but this is way up from his average yearly production, which is usually much closer to about 30 points per 82 games. His increased usage in Ottawa obviously plays a role in the stats and he’s not going to get the same minutes in New York.
The thing is, if New York wasn’t willing to give him that money, someone else likely would have in free agency. The plus side here is that New York did what it took to keep Pageau around and he’s likely to be a great fit as a third-line center.
As for a notable rumoured trade that we didn’t see come to fruition– was Zach Parise almost a New York Islander?
TSN’s Frank Seravalli reported the Islanders were working to bring Parise to New York with Andrew Ladd potentially going back the other way. When I read this I really wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, getting out of the Ladd contract in exchange for a player who’s still productive (regardless of other pieces added) would have been great. Then again, five more years at over $7.5 million for a 35-year-old could be disastrous. There’s a chance Parise ends up in the same situation as Ladd in a couple years.
But then step back and look at it a bit differently and you ask: how likely is it that Parise actually plays out all five of those years before retirement? Possible for sure but not overly likely. Parise’s actual salary drops all the way from $6 million in 2021-22 down to $2 million in 2022-23, then sits at just $1 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The game-changer is what the penalties would have been, should Parise retire before his contract expires. Basically, the Islanders would have been almost completely off the hook for Parise retiring, with Minnesota taking on almost the entire penalty.
At the end of the day, it didn’t even happen– but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the offseason. If it did, while it’s a lot of cap space to dedicate to Parise, the Islanders would add a productive forward in exchange for Ladd’s anchor of a contract.
We did end up seeing Matt Lorito traded to Toronto in exchange for Jordan Schmaltz in a minor deal. Lorito is 29 years old and has only ever played two NHL games, while Schmaltz is just 26 years old and played 20 games with St. Louis just last year. It's a very minor trade that doesn’t make any impact for either team but at least New York seemingly got the better player.
Anyways, it was a good trade deadline for the Islanders. They made a big move in acquiring Pageau and they’re in a much better position to contend than they were even a week ago.
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OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM FEBRUARY
Islanders acquire Pageau from Senators
Analyzing the Andy Greene trade
Islanders should keep new third-line together
So far, so good for Kieffer Bellows
Islanders call up Kieffer Bellows 
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