March 4, 2025 | 9:58am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

ISLANDERS HAVE STARTED TRADE TALKS INVOLVING NELSON, PALMIERI

Brock Nelson, forward

The New York Islanders have to two pieces several teams are interested in ahead of Friday’s 3pm ET trade deadline and it appears GM Lou Lamoriello has started to engage with clubs about them.

Forwards Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri are in the final year of their respective contracts and are eligible to become unrestricted free agents July 1.

Lamoriello has been reluctant to begin trade talks with teams about them, holding out hope his team will gain some ground in the playoff race. However, it appears that as of Monday, the Islanders began to hold trade discussions and those conversations are expected to continue following Monday night’s 4-0 loss to the Rangers.

During Monday night’s edition of “The Latest” on TFP, David Pagnotta reported trade talks are indeed underway and the Islanders are now open to moving Nelson, Palmieri and possibly others.

“What I can tell you is speaking to sources across the league, the Islanders were engaged and had started trade talks involving some of their players, I believe that includes Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, earlier today, and those talks will continue throughout the week,” Pagnotta said. “The loss pretty much, effectively, puts them into the seller’s market. They will continue those discussions involving those players. There has been interest in others, including Jean-Gabriel Pageau, as well.

“They have a game on Tuesday against Winnipeg. I don’t think that’s going to matter much based on what happened (Monday) evening in their loss to the Rangers but it certainly seems like the New York Islanders are going to be open for business to a certain extent.”

The Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs are some of the teams believed to have serious interest in Nelson, who has a $6 million salary cap hit.

View the TFP Trade Watch List

It is believed that the Los Angeles Kings are one of the teams eyeing Palmieri, who comes with a $5 million cap hit.

The Islanders have all three salary retention slots available to them and they could be in a position to retain part of Nelson and/or Palmieri’s contracts in order to push a deal forward.

“Trade talks started (Monday), formally, from the sounds of things, and they will continue this week. So, expect something coming out of the Island before the deadline,” Pagnotta stated.

Pageau, 32, has one more year left on his contract after this season at a $5 million AAV and owns a 16-team no-trade list as part of his deal. Both Nelson and Palmieri also have 16-team no-trade lists.