Another trade for the Islanders at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline would be nice, but do they really need one? After trading for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, Lou Lamoriello should call it a day for the reasons below.

The Team Concept

From the first day Barry Trotz arrived, he made it clear that if you want to go far, you do it together. The one specialty with Islanders is the team chemistry. There have not been any any Islanders locker room altercations under Trotz. It has been said multiple times everyone loves each other on the team. The Islanders specialty is the ability to produce offense and defense with all four lines. That showed in the 2020 playoffs as they used every line at any time of the game. The forth and third line have proven they can score goals and that their line order doesn’t matter and is just a number.

The Defense

The Islanders defense is one of the best in the league. With emerging players like Noah Dobson and Stanley Cup champion and veteran Nick Leddy, the Islanders defense is elite. Since the Islanders have the ability to score and produce with all four offensive lines, all they need is good defense to be successful and they already have that. Defense wins hockey games and because the Islanders defense is so talented and crucial, they don’t need to make another trade to make the offense better.

Islanders Playing Hot Without Their Captain

When their captain, Anders Lee, got injured, a lot of fans thought this would really effect the Islanders. Currently, the Islanders are 16-1-2 at home. They are also tied with the Washington Capitals for first place. Players like Matt Martin have taken on Lee’s net-front presence on the power-play and have continued to produce.

The Goalies

When you have great goalies, you don’t need much offense. The Islanders goalies have been unreal this year. Semyon Varlamov recently shut-out Washington, while rookie Ilya Sorokin continues to stay hot. If the Islanders don’t add another asset at the trade deadline and keep this team, they can definitely make a deep playoff run due to great defense and goalies.

The Islanders Ability To Move On From Losses

They can put every loss behind them no matter what happened. The Islanders lost 8-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final last year. The next game they held Tampa Bay to only two goals and nearly won. The next game the Islanders scored five goals to win 5-3. They took the tough loss and put it behind them and have continued to do that this year.

The Chemistry

As mentioned before it all goes back to the chemistry. The players really enjoy each other unlike any other team. No matter who comes into the team, they are immediate loved. This group likes to have fun and doesn’t care who the star player is or who has the most goals. They don’t need an amazing playoff goal from a superstar. All they need is anyone in the lineup to put the puck in the back of the net.

Nobody tries to steal the spotlight. They do everything together and everyone plays a crucial role.

Therefore, the Islanders should not make another move before the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline.

John Smark