Fans either love him or hate him. Islanders general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello has until July 17 to submit his list of the players he wishes to protect from the Seattle Kraken and Jordan Eberle needs to be on it.

It has been speculated that Eberle will be left unprotected to entice the Kraken into selecting him. With Seattle selecting Eberle, that would relieve $5.5 million in cap space for the Islanders. In that sense, it would be a benefit to leaving him unprotected.

But Eberle currently plays alongside Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee on the first line, and removing him would cause trouble. The Islanders have one of the best first-lines in the NHL when all three are healthy.

Lou Lamoriello is in a tough spot. In a sense, it is a good problem to have. With so much talent up and down the lineup and back-to-back NHL Semifinal appearances, the Islanders would like to keep their core together. Eberle heading to Seattle would rattle the first line and that is exactly what Lamoriello and Barry Trotz are trying to avoid.

Eberle ranked fourth in points and third in goals scored amongst all Islanders forwards throughout the season. He went onto finish the season with 16 goals and 17 assists, which tally up to 33 points through 55 games played.

The absence of Lee surely impacted Eberle’s performance. With Lee alongside him this season, Eberle averaged 0.33 goals per game and without him, he averaged 0.25 goals per game. The Islanders have one of the better first lines in the league as stated before, when healthy. Lee went down with a season-ending injury on March 11, so the three were not together since. With Lee returning next season, keeping the first line together is critical. Eberle has shown a lot of promise when playing with Lee and Barzal in the past few seasons, so the 31-year-old should be protected.

Jacob

Writer for Drive4Five covering the New York Islanders.