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The New York Islanders announced earlier today that they’ve traded forward Josh Bailey to the Chicago Blackhawks.
In addition to Bailey, the Islanders also sent the Blackhawks a second-round pick in 2026, in exchange for future considerations. Chicago will buy out the final year of Bailey’s contract, which carried a $5M cap hit.
Bailey spent his entire career with the Islanders to this point, playing over 1,000 games with the team. This past season, the winger scored 8 goals and 25 points in 64 games.
Obviously, giving up a good asset (when the organization doesn’t have a ton of quality prospects as is) to move the final year of a contract isn’t great. At the same time, the move doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as it’s been assumed that Bailey would either be traded or bought out. He was sitting out through the end of the season, and the Islanders needed cap space.
On that note though, New York now has nearly $10 million in cap space. Whether it’s re-signing their current free agents, adding elsewhere, or both, the Islanders do have a bit of room to try and improve.
I've already linked the contract projection for Scott Mayfield in a previous article, but for those interested, my contract projection for Semyon Varlamov at HockeyComparables.com is also out:
ARTICLE: Projecting Semyon Varlamov's next contract
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While the Islanders were without a first-round pick for the NHL Draft once again, the organization did make five selections in Rounds 2-7 today. The selections were:
DANNY NELSON (2nd Round, 49th Overall) - Nelson is a big center, already standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing over 200 pounds. He spent the year with the U.S. National Team Development Program, scoring 21 goals and 47 points in 62 games, though his numbers were significantly lower from a lot of his teammates who went earlier in the draft, as expected.
JESSE NURMI (4th Round, 113th Overall) - Without a third-round pick as well, New York’s next selection came in the fourth round, where they selected Finnish winger Jesse Nurmi. Nurmi spent the majority of the year playing U-20 hockey in Finland, scoring 21 goals and 50 points in 41 games.
JUSTIN GILL (5th Round, 145th Overall) - Gill was passed over in his two previous years of draft eligibility, but a stellar QMJHL season made the difference this year. The forward scored an impressive 44 goals and 93 points in 68 games with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
ZACHARY SCHULZ (6th Round, 177th Overall) - The first defenseman selected by the Islanders, Schulz also spent the year with the USNTDP. The left-handed blue liner managed 10 points in 52 games and is committed to the University of Wisconsin for next season.
DENNIS GOOD BOGG (7th Round, 209th Overall) - With their final pick, New York took another defender, this time from Sweden. Good Bogg managed 28 points in 39 games while playing U-20 hockey in Sweden this season.
QuizMaker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM JUNE
Which of the Islanders’ UFAs will return next season?
Islanders re-sign Samuel Bolduc 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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