Islanders center Brock Nelson's play in 4 Nations not expected to impact trade value

Brock Nelson‘s Four Nations play shouldn’t hurt his trade value

Stephen Rosner of The Hockey News: New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson was held pointless in four, Four Nations games. That shouldn’t hurt his trade value as his role with Team USA was different than it is with the Islanders. He played on the fourth line as opposed to in the top six. His minutes dropped from 19:20 with the Isles to 14:20 in the tournament.

Also goalless for the Americans were Auston Matthews, J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, and Kyle Connor.

The New York Rangers could do some buying and selling

Vincent Z. Mercogliano of Lohud: Two sources said the play of the New York Rangers leading up to the deadline will determine if they are buyers or sellers. Many think the Rangers will do a bit of both.

Ideally, the Rangers would be able to add players that have some term left on their contracts. They’re limited in draft picks and their prospect pool is a little thin, so it won’t be easy. Moving out some players who aren’t part of their long-term plan will likely happen to recoup some assets. The Rangers could use their $15 million deadline cap space to acquire some extra assets.

Pending UFAs Ryan Lindgren, Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey likely won’t be re-signed and could be dealt. Defenseman Zac Jones likely won’t be back either.

Lindgren isn’t having a good season and there is a lot of wear and tear on the 27-year-old. Despite that teams recognize what he does in the playoffs and could maybe net the Rangers a second-round pick or a good prospect.

Forward Chris Kreider could draw some interest. He may be an offseason trade. He has a 15-team no-trade clause.

Areas of need: center, right wing, and a left-handed defenseman. They don’t have any left-handed defensemen under contract for next season.

Potential center options include Scott Laughton, Ryan O’Reilly and Michael McCarron.

Potential right wing options include Rickard Rakell and Nick Schmaltz.

Potential defenseman options include Jamie Oleksiak, Carson Soucy, and Mario Ferraro.