The Islanders have a deal in place to send their first-round pick to Vegas to steer the expansion franchise toward selecting a designated player off the Isles’ unprotected list, two NHL sources confirmed to Newsday on Monday.
TSN first reported the existence of the deal.
The player designated for selection is believed to be wing Nikolay Kulemin, who has one year at a $4.187-million salary cap hit. There may also, according to the sources, be another piece in the deal going from the Islanders to Vegas.
It is unknown what that third component would be — whether it’s another draft pick, a player off the current roster or a prospect — but there is a possibility that it would be Mikhail Grabovski, who has yet to be cleared to play after suffering a concussion in March of 2016.