SEATTLE — Unwittingly, the Islanders have borne witness over the past few days to the first dominos of the pre-Olympic break trade market falling.
Rasmus Andersson’s last game as a Calgary Flame was Saturday, when he had an assist and played an excellent 25:40 to help beat the Islanders. And Kiefer Sherwood was traded away from the Canucks on Monday morning, conducting an emotional goodbye news conference about 20 minutes before the Islanders stepped on the ice for their morning skate at Rogers Arena.
By coincidence, these happen to be two players the Islanders could have very much used, and it’s a safe bet Mathieu Darche was monitoring the asking price for both. Andersson, a top-pair righty defenseman who can play both specialty units, would’ve been the Noah Dobson replacement the Islanders never got. Sherwood, who’s been on a torrid scoring pace this season and plays a grinding game, had the profile of a Kyle Palmieri replacement.
Obviously, it can be assumed by neither player going to the Islanders that Darche didn’t beat the offers from the Golden Knights and Sharks, respectively. Andersson commanded a 2027 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, defenseman Zach Whitecloud and a prospect from Vegas; Sherwood brought back a pair of second-rounders for this season and next plus an AHL player. Both players are on expiring deals, and neither has signed extensions with their new team yet.
