NHL Rumors: New York Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau is a trade and buyout candidate

Daily Faceoff Youbube: Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk on New York Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is both a buyout and trade candidate.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Yaremchuk: “Next player I want to talk about was a guy who appears on both the buyout and the trade targets list and that’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Which side of that are you maybe more on, buyout or trade?”

Seravalli: “Definitely trade. I think that makes more sense for the Islanders. I just don’t, I put him on the buyout side because I don’t think you can officially rule it out. I think if push comes to shove, they have to at least consider it if they can’t find a proper taker.

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I read this situation very similarly to last year, Josh Bailey, they get a second-round pick, trade it to Chicago. Chicago buys out Bailey. They have to rejig their cap situation. Same thing this time around. They have six players to sign for 6 million bucks. Not really a comfortable spot to be in for a team that also needs some change.

When you have Pageau making what he does, you’ve got to consider some alternatives. He’s 33 points, double-digit goal scorer, responsible player, all those things that go into his game, but he’s not playing at a level that meets his cap hit. And when that’s the case, your options are, hey, we just got an extra second-round pick to slide down a couple of spots in the draft. Can we use one of those second-round picks to offload Pageau? And then go about getting some cap flexibility and trying to figure this thing out to put this team in a better position for success.

Because I don’t know where the Islanders go from here. Out with a whimper in the first round. Fought like heck to make the playoffs. Tons of guys that have term and are locked up. What’s the path forward for Patrick Roy to help be a difference maker for this team behind the bench?”

Yaremchuk: “Yeah, I think if you’re, if you’re the Islanders to like buy him out with two years left, that spreads it out through what would be four years.

Even if you got to keep 50%, I would imagine there’s a team who looks at Pageau who goes 33 points, good defensively, like you said. Can throw on our PK, a third-line center, $3 million, $3.5 million, even like someone will touch it.

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Seravalli: “Yeah, that’s why I think the trade is way more likely. But then you’re also dealing with dead cap on your books, which you just have for two years instead of four. So neither one of them are really comfortable spots, but there you go.”