February 2014
With the league on hiatus due to the Sochi Winter Olympics, there was plenty of time for GM Bigby Wolf to man the phone lines and work on improving his club for the stretch run. The first transaction took place on Feb 13:
To the Islanders: Brenden Dillon
To the Hurricanes: Anders Lee, rights to Loic Leduc and the 2016 5th Round Draft Pick (Islanders)
With only 2 points in 27 games this season, and several of those games riding shotgun along Tavares, it was determined that Lee would be made expendable. Anders still has the potential to become a good player in this league but acquiring Brenden Dillon was something that the Islanders have been trying to do all season. Dillon plays an abrasive game and he has a mean streak - two qualities that should endear him to his new teammates. This was an extremely difficult negotiation - as the Hurricanes were adamant on getting Leduc and that 5th Round draft pick. Bigby Wolf has acknowledged that he needs to make an attempt to re-acquire draft picks.
A couple of days later, Wolf noticed that the 10th place Blue Jackets has just placed winger Marian Gaborik on the trading block!
To the Islanders: Marian Gaborik
To the Jackets: Calvin de Haan
de Haan was a quality teammate but with the recent acquisition of Brenden Dillon, the Islander's management team decided to roll the dice and 'rent' Gaborik for the stretch run. Top prospect Griffin Reinhart will get the call up to replace de Haan.
Evgeny Nabokov could not be traded, despite the thorough efforts of GM Wolf. It looks like Nabokov's days in the NHL could be numbered. Matt Donovan was another player that didn't drum up a lot of interest from the other teams - and rather than let him walk, he was offered a 3 year (2-way) contract extension.
The Islanders finished the month with a 3-1 record. Unlike Couture's spectacular debut earlier in the season, Gaborik was held pointless (with 2 SOGs) in his debut. A victim of the numbers game, prospect John Persson was sent to the AHL. Persson has impressed the coaching staff with his ability to score goals in limited ice time.
The coaching staff has decided to break up that 2nd line (with Couture, Strome and Grabner). Here are the new line combinations:
