The New York Islanders made huge news over the weekend. Despite losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team is still tied for 8th place in the Eastern Conference and is the closest it's ever been for a playoff spot since 2007.
More importantly, the team resigned Lubomir Visnovsky, the team's top defenseman for another two years. Visnovsky was a hot topic with the trade deadline looming, but his resigning has now shifted the attention to New York Islander's captain Mark Streit. A tremendous number of reports indicate that he could be a major trading chip for Islanders' general manager Garth Snow.
The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch writes that "[Snow is] trying to get a deal done with rearguard Mark Streit. The two sides are holding talks. If there's no contract, there's a good chance Streit gets moved. The Bruins, Leafs, Kings and Blues have all made inquiries."
Joe Haggerty of Comcast writes, "Chiarelli told CSNNE.com last weekend that he's looking for a defenseman as well as a winger to enhance Boston's roster, and a puck-moving left shot blueliner would be at the top of the list...The perfect name at the top of Boston's list would be Swiss defenseman Mark Streit, who is entering the final month of his walk year with the New York Islanders as an offensive defenseman."
The Boston Globe adds, "One possibility for an acquisition would be Mark Streit. The Islanders captain will be an unrestricted free agent at year's end. The Bruins considered signing Streit in 2008 before he came to terms with the Islanders...Streit would command a steep price. Interest around the league in the smooth-moving defenseman is high. The Bruins would most likely have to part with picks and prospects to outbid other contenders."
Other teams that are being linked to Streit include the Vancouver Canucks. The Hockey Writers' Daniel Schöpf stated that "At 35 years old, the 6 foot blue-liner would add a veteran presence to the Vancouver defensive corp, giving back some of what the Canucks lost through not re-signing Sami Salo in the off-season." Schöpf adds that the Islanders could be ideal trading partners for the Canucks on a number of other fronts as well.
With other offensively-limited defensemen such as Douglas Murray and Jordan Leopold commanding little more than 2nd round draft picks, it is safe to say that the trade of Mark Streit could command a ton of return, including a roster player and even a higher draft pick.
The trade deadline is Wednesday April 3.
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