Islanders Sign 2025 1st Round Pick Aitcheson to 3 Year Entry Level Deal

According to multiple reports, the Islanders have signed 2025 first round pick Kashawn Aitcheson to a 3 year entry level contract.  Aitcheson was taken 17th overall by the Islanders in the draft last summer, following their selections of Matthew Schaefer and Victor Eklund.

Aitcheson has been a superstar in the OHL this year putting up 70 points in 54 games, including 28 goals.  Aitcheson doesn't only produce offense though, he has a mean streak as well.

I am very excited to see the continued evolution of Aitcheson's game as he reports to Bridgeport.  His combination of physicality and production is very rare, if he can translate that at all to the pro level that will only mean terrific things for the Islanders going forward.

Isles Acquire Blues Captain Schenn in Deadline Day Shocker

Earlier today, in quite the deadline day deal shocker, the Islanders acquired Brayden Schenn from St Louis in exchange for Jonathan Drouin, Marcus Gildof, 2026 1st round pick (COL) & 2026 3rd round pick (NJD).

I didn't see this coming from a million miles away, like everyone I was looking at Thomas or Kyrou when it came to the Blues.

Including Drouin in this deal makes it easier to swallow, but I still feel like we paid an extremely high price for Schenn and his 6.5 aav over the next two seasons.  Schenn does have some positives though.  He is good at face offs and is physical, something we have lacked since Matt Martin and Clutterbuck retired.  He also doesn't hesitate to step in for teammates if the situation warrants it.  Given those positives, this isn't the dynamic player the Islanders lack though.  He isn't a great skater and doesn't exactly pile up points.

Moving out Drouin as I said above is one thing that gave me solace in this deal.  After having a promising start, he just went down hill and never recovered.  Even though he still got ample opportunity from the coaching staff he was never able to take advantage.  

Schaefer Wins 1st Star of the Week

Yesterday, it was announced that Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was named first star of the week.

Schaefer, who hit 20 goals in the Islanders game the other night has 4 goals and 1 assist since play resumed after the NHL Olympic break.  With his goals the other night, he is now just 3 goals behind Brian Leetch for the most goals ever by a rookie defeseman.

He is the first Islanders defenseman to ever win this since they started awarding it.

Islanders Stay Busy, Trade Tsyplakov To The Devils

Another day, another trade for the Islanders.  After acquiring Carson Soucy from the Rangers last night, the Islanders made another deal with a Metro Division foe today, shipping Max Tsyplakov to the Devils.  In exchange for Tysplakov the Islanders acquired Ondrej Palat, a 2026 3rd round pick and a 2027 6th round pick.  Palat like Tsyplakov is signed through next season, but his cap hit is much higher at 6 million.

The Islanders signed Tsyplakov out of Russia before last season.  Last season, Tysplakov actually wasn't bad in a bottom 6 role tallying 35 points in 77 games.  However, with the turnover up front over the summer that left Tsyplakov spot in the lineup in limbo and that shows with him only playing 27 games so far this season.

Now while Tsyplakov wasn't doing anything, taking on Palats massive cap hit given his recent decline in play without requiring the Devils to retain anything is pretty questionable to say the least.  The picks are all well and good but cap space is our most valuable tool and putting that much into a player like Palat raises red flags to say the least.

My one hope is given Darche prior relationship with Palat from their time with the Lightning, maybe he sees things in his game that could be changed like he used to play in Tampa.  If that doesn't happen, Darche probably would've been better off just dumping Tsyplakov for a mid round or late round pick.

Islanders Make Rare Trade With Rangers, Acquire D-man Soucy

Yesterday evening, news broke that the Rangers sell off was beginning as they were trading defenseman Carson Soucy.  The most shocking part of this wasn't that Soucy was the first domino to fall for the Rangers but that they traded him here.  Dating back to the Islanders inception in 1972 this is only the 4th time the Islanders had come together on a trade with the Rangers.  The Islanders traded a 2026 3rd round pick to the Rangers for Soucy.

Soucy, a defenseman, is a free agent at the end of this year.  He is big bodied at 6'5 211lbs and will fit nicely on the Islanders bottom pair which has been kind of a rotating cast of characters since Romanov was injured by Rantanen.  

To learn more about Soucy the player, click here.