The New York Islanders can take a page out of their cross-town friends in the Bronx and find similar success that the Yankees had in trading Aroldis Chapman for up-and-coming star Gleyber Torres, only to then sign Chapman mere months later after his rental ended.
Or look no further than the Capitals’ trade of Brooks Orpik to the Avalanche this past offseason, only to have him immediately bought out by Colorado and signed by the Caps. The Caps got salary cap relief and the Avs got Philipp Grubuaer handcuffed to Orpik.
While it is not exactly the same execution, the same principle remains in that you unload a player to another team for the new team’s short-term gain, with every intention to bring them back after that player has fulfilled that objective with the new team.