Are the Wild and Islanders Revisiting a Blockbuster Deal?

While the New York Islanders can’t technically make a trade while still part of the NHL playoff picture, it doesn’t mean the team hasn’t got bait in the water trying to land a fish for when the season comes to a close.

Six months ago, there was a ton of talk that the Islanders and Minnesota Wild were working on a massive trade that would have sent Zach Parise to the Islanders and brought Andrew Ladd back to the Wild. At that time we wrote:

TSN’s Frank Seravalli is reporting that he’s hearing from sources that the New York Islanders are acquiring Zach Parise from the Minnesota Wild for forward Andrew Ladd. This is a massive deal, if only because of the money involved in the trade.

Apparently, talks have heated up again. On a recent 31 Thoughts podcast on Sportsnet, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman have revealed that Wild general manager Bill Guerin might be working on revisiting that deal.

Related: Big Trade Rumor: Parise to Islanders For Andrew Ladd

Not the Only Pieces Involved

What’s really interesting is that there might be more than just Ladd and Parise involved. Speculation from Friedman is that the New York Islanders would conceivable get another big-name NHL veteran in the swap.

According to Friedman, the Wild would send forward Zach Parise as well as Mikko Koivu to the Islanders in return for forward Andrew Ladd as well as draft picks.

Marek on 31 Thoughts now talking about a deal between the #mnwild and #Isles involving Zach Parise and Andrew Ladd in the offseason, Friedman jumped in and said Mikko Koivu was in those discussions as well, Isles asked for him. Do they revisit those talks?

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) August 13, 2020

37-year-old Koivu will become an unrestricted free agent this summer so the deal sounds bigger than it actually would be if completed. It would essentially be his negotiating rights could be involved in a deal but Koivu has said he’s not interested in playing anywhere but Minnesota and would like to finish his career in one uniform.

How The Trade Might Help Both Teams

There’s a reason this deal didn’t get done the first time these two teams took a look at it. Outside of Lou Lamoriello pulling away from deals that get leaked to the public, the money on this trade is complex.

Realistically, the only way this deal would work for the Islanders is if Minnesota retains a large chunk moving forward. The Wild would be moving the better player in the deal, but would be doing so to free up cap space.

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