As it stands right now, the New York Islanders didn’t get better from last year. You could argue that they moved laterally or potentially even got slightly worse with the Semyon Varlamov/Robin Lehner swap.
Since most of the top free agents are already signed, the Isles would be wise to look at trade options to improve their team. Looking at a team like Vegas, who is in major cap hell right now, would make a lot of sense.
George McPhee is already over the cap and is going to have to clear up some space to get under it.