CHICAGO _ After spending his first-round pick in Wednesday's expansion draft to avoid having Vegas pluck one of his young NHLers, Garth Snow took one of those young players and swung a deal for a five-time 20-goal scorer.
The Islanders acquired wing Jordan Eberle from the Oilers for Ryan Strome on Thursday, sending out the fifth pick in the 2011 draft in Strome for a proven scorer. Eberle, 27, was an Oiler for seven seasons and has crested the 60-point plateau three times, with a career-best 76 points in 2011-12.
"The Islanders are a tough team to play against and have a lot of potential," Eberle said on a conference call. "I'm excited to be part of that."
Strome was hardly a bust, but he lost his way the past two seasons after posting 50 points in 2014-15. There was a horrifically slow start in 2015-16 that saw Strome sent to the AHL for three weeks in November and a season-ending wrist injury this past March. He had just 58 total points in 140 games the past two seasons.
Jack Capuano singled Strome out often for benchings. When Doug Weight took over as coach in January, Strome saw an uptick in his playing time but didn't make it translate into points.
Eberle could be the top-line wing Snow has been looking for _ and it helps that Eberle and John Tavares have been friends for years, dating to their chemistry on a line together for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior tournament.
"The Islanders are a team where I know a lot of the guys. I've trained with Thomas Hickey, John Tavares, Andrew Ladd and (Travis) Hamonic," Eberle said. "John Tavares is a generational player. I'm excited for the opportunity to play with him and hopefully bring success to the Islanders."
This is Snow's third trade in the last three years with Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli and safe to say the Isles have come out looking awfully good from the previous two. While still running the Bruins, Chiarelli sent Johnny Boychuk to the Isles in October 2014 for a pair of second-round picks; on the draft floor in June 2015, with Chiarelli newly installed as Edmonton GM, Snow sent defense prospect Griffin Reinhart to the Oilers for the 16th and 33rd picks.
The Islanders drafted Mathew Barzal with that No. 16 pick and the dynamic young center may have just solidified his spot in the Isles' 2017-18 lineup with Thursday's trade. The Isles still have assets, particularly on defense, to swing another deal for a high-end forward but they appear unwilling to part with Barzal, which could scuttle any plans to acquire Avalanche center Matt Duchene.
So Barzal could be the answer at a top-nine center spot this coming season.
The Islanders still have a glut of NHL defensemen and are without a first-round pick after Wednesday's expansion draft trade, in which they sent the 15th pick in Friday's NHL draft, a 2019 second-rounder, injured center Mikhail Grabovski and his $5-million salary-cap hit and defense prospect Jake Bischoff to Vegas to have the Knights select goaltender J-F Berube, a pending free agent.
That move cleared enough cap space for Snow to make Thursday's deal. Eberle has two seasons left at a $6-million cap hit and Strome has one more year at $2.5 million, after which he will still be a restricted free agent.
Travis Hamonic or Calvin de Haan appear to be the most attractive trade targets for other teams among the Isles defensemen, but Snow could now be looking to trade back into Friday's first round with his available assets if he decides not to pursue another top-end forward.
"We're excited to add a proven offensive weapon like Jordan to our lineup," Snow said in a statement. "He brings speed and a knack for scoring not only consistently, but scoring big goals, in big games. Jordan brings leadership and experience into our room, qualities that will continue to help us build towards our goals of being a consistent playoff contender and winning the Stanley Cup."
