Hopefully it is a universal belief that the New York Islanders need to make upgrades despite retaining their three key free agent forwards, now that Anders Lee is signed, sealed and sticking around.
With Lee the best remaining unrestricted free agent forward available when he was signed late Monday afternoon, it’s pretty clear the Islanders need to do this via the trade market rather than free agency.
One option to pursue: KHL star and Vegas Golden Knights property Nikita Gusev.
According to reports in the Las Vegas Review Journal and the Athletic, the Knights are weighing whether to trade the rights to Gusev if they can’t fit the RFA under the cap.