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Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Islanders Should Only Move the Top Pick for These 3 Players

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mike Fink | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 8:25 AM ET

It’s worth starting this conversation by stating that the New York Islanders should not trade the top pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. As intriguing as it sounds, the Islanders and new general manager (GM) Mathieu Darche shouldn’t overthink the decision and should just take the best player available.

Darche agrees with that sentiment. He noted during his introductory press conference that someone would need to knock his socks off to make a deal for the top pick. During the combine, he already met with a few of the top prospects with the intention of taking one of them. All this is why the Islanders shouldn’t trade their pick and probably won’t.

But if they do, there are a few players who fit the bill of good enough to knock Darche’s socks off (although the weather this week suggests he’s not wearing socks, so a deal must knock his flip-flops off).

Tage Thompson

Tage Thompson is the game-changer the Buffalo Sabres could trade this summer. Granted, this is a team that enters next season with playoff aspirations, and anything short of that will likely cost GM Kevyn Adams his job (with the Jarmo Kekalainen hire only ramping up the pressure). Additionally, the Sabres already have a great farm system and aren’t looking to add another prospect to the mix when they need NHL-caliber players (like Thompson).

That said, the Sabres are looking for a shakeup with reports circulating about J.J. Peterka and Bowen Byram being in potential deals. Trading Thompson or Rasmus Dahlin would be a big shakeup and possibly leave the Sabres better off in the long run. Thompson doesn’t have an easy contract to move. The cap hit is manageable with a $7.14 million average annual value (AAV) but there are four more seasons on it. However, he’s the player the Islanders could acquire for the pick in a one-for-one swap.

He’s the elite talent who would take the top line to the next level. Thompson plays both center and right wing, and he’s a proven 40-goal scorer. The Islanders have a handful of players in their primes, notably Mathew Barzal, who are looking to return to the playoffs, and Thompson is the player they could add to set themselves up for a Cup run.

Jason Robertson

It doesn’t make sense for the Dallas Stars to trade Jason Robertson. He’s a core part of their roster, and for a team on the cusp of the Stanley Cup, they should be looking at ways to add and not subtract. Trading Robertson for lesser players and certainly for a draft pick does that.

At the same time, the Stars want to shake things up. It’s why there’s a lot of chatter surrounding their head coach, Pete DeBoer, notably after he pulled Jake Oettinger with the season on the line, and what big move GM Jim Nill might make. It puts a Robertson trade on the table and already, a few teams have offers lined up.

The Islanders would be a great fit for Robertson. He’s a playmaker who does it all in the offensive zone from scoring on the rush to finding the back of the net with quick shots. It made him one of the few brights spots in the five-game series against the Edmonton Oilers as he scored four of the team’s 11 goals in a series where the Stars were otherwise dominated.

On the Islanders, he’d be a great top-line winger to pair with Barzal as the two could connect on the rush and gash opponents in space. Likewise, Robertson’s passing would make him an ideal player to play alongside Bo Horvat as he would provide him plenty of open looks. The Islanders will have to extend Robertson, as he’s a restricted free agent (RFA) after the 2025-26 season but keeping him as a core part of the roster is worth it.

Kirill Kaprizov

The Marco Rossi trade talk has picked up recently and if he’s dealt, it’s only a matter of time before the Kirill Kaprizov trade rumors start circulating as well. The most-likely scenario is that he stays with the Minnesota Wild, as the team will spend big to keep one of the building blocks of their rosters.

The problem is Kaprizov is an unrestricted free agent after next season. There’s a good case to be made that they’ve plateaued in the Kaprizov era as a team that makes the playoffs but can’t go further, and must be built differently as a result. If the Wild aren’t set up to contend next season, moving Kaprizov makes sense.

Ironically, the Wild are a team set up to retool with the top pick. They have a young defense led by Brock Faber with more prospects on the way. If they move Rossi and Kaprizov to draft a young forward group led by Michael Misa, they’ll be a rebuilt team.

As for the Islanders, Kaprizov is the star they’ll want to add somehow. Sure, they’d have to extend him, just like they would Robertson, but he’s one of the elite players to build around. Kaprizov takes the offense to the next level, something the Wild saw firsthand this season. He’s the type of player who despite playing the wing, can carry his own line and it’s gives the Islanders plenty of options if he’s in their lineup.

Why the Islanders Don’t Make These Trades

The Islanders have the top pick and the best route is to take the best player on the board. They shouldn’t overthink the selection or try to trade down, even if both ideas sound intruiging. Instead, they should take Misa or defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the expectation one of them will work out.

This is a franchise that knows firsthand the risks and fallout of trading out of a top pick, especially for an NHL ready player. Mike Milbury (remember him?) did that in the 2001 Draft where he wanted to acquire Alexei Yashin. All he had to do was trade Zdeno Chara and the second pick, which became Jason Spezza.

It’s fun to imagine Thompson or Robertson on this Islanders’ forward unit. In the end, Darche won’t make that type of trade or it would be a shock if he did. This is his first impression with the Islanders and as a GM at the NHL level and he won’t let his legacy be defined by a move like this, one that can be attached to him for the rest of his tenure.