New Jersey Devils' Kyle Palmieri reacts after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers, on March 23, 2021. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
The NHL Draft begins on July 23, a distant epoch after the Stanley Cup is awarded and (perhaps) life has returned to relative, vaccinated normal.
No first-round pick for the Islanders? They’ll live, especially if that pick is near the bottom of the draft order.
All that matters is now, and the coming three months, when the Islanders must do anything possible to make another run at a championship.
Hence the no-brainer deal famed hockey impresario Lou Lamoriello made on Wednesday, the headline being the trading of this year’s first-rounder to the Devils for two useful, free-agent-to-be rentals: Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac.