Post by NY Islanders GM on Mar 2, 2024 22:29:52 GMT -5
ELMONT, NY - Just days after completing a blockbuster with the Vegas Golden Knights, the Islanders have found themselves on the transaction page again, albeit not as earth shattering.
However one of those recently acquired players, Luke Schenn, finds himself on the move once more after just three games in the orange and blue.
General Manager Chris Hessel announced Saturday after the 3-2 OT loss to the Blackhawks that the team has acquired defenseman Scott Mayfield from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Schenn & forward Adam Henrique.
Mayfield, 31, is a pending UFA but was putting together a great two-way campaign in Nashville after some nice offensive contributions last season. With a bevy of PP time that won’t appear to be available on the Island, Mayfield has put up 6-26-32 with a +6 rating.
Henrique, 33 and also a pending UFA, has chipped in 8 goals and 9 assists for the Isles this season despite having a role that saw him with inconsistent minutes on some nights. Recently he had found himself on the 4th line after cooling from a fast start but should get more consistent time with a Predators team that is going through their own spark searching on both sides of the ice.
The Isles turning Schenn around is pretty surprising, but the ability to land Mayfield also caught Hessel by surprise.
“We didn’t expect that to be the outcome when we engaged Nashville recently. We were focused on something else and then their (Cam Fowler) trade happened and it was pretty clear there was a bit of a surplus there.
Would have loved to keep Luke around but, such is the way of the salary cap unfortunately. We like what he was doing for our club.”
Schenn had been partnered with fellow newcomer Neal Pionk, and it would appear the natural flow would make Mayfield an ideal partner with the offensive wiz. He had a pretty active 3 games for the Isles, not recording a point but throwing 7 hits and recording 8 PIMs with a +3 rating.
While Schenn hadn’t been featured on the Isles PK other than as a temporary fill-in during game situations, it remains to be seen if Mayfield might be handled a bit differently. The Isles PK has rebounded of late after a rocky start to the season and they might be hard pressed to change it.
However it’s a PK unit that did feature Henrique, lately on the top line with Jordan Staal. The Isles will now have to navigate that, but it is worth mentioning that Chris Tierney came from Vegas with loads of PK time under his belt.
Hessel had glowing things to say about Henrique, notably one of his favorites since signing.
“Watching Adam for years in Toronto we prioritized him in UFA a few years ago and was thrilled he chose us. He was a great player for us and helped us accomplish a lot. Happy to find him a new home, keep him in a playoff race where he can get more minutes he deserves.”
The Isles have been playing at the cap virtually all season, and this deal actually saves them a minimal amount of money but not a whole lot in the scheme of things as they now have to call-up a forward from the farm to replace Henrique.
With just under $1M in cap space, if there’s any other deal out there as the deadline approaches 3+ weeks from now, it would still require money maneuvers and even that feels like a stretch with so many new faces in place.
But the Isles have done a lot to re-shape the team, particularly on defense where they continue to try to find ways to cut down on goals against while climbing in the standings.
However one of those recently acquired players, Luke Schenn, finds himself on the move once more after just three games in the orange and blue.
General Manager Chris Hessel announced Saturday after the 3-2 OT loss to the Blackhawks that the team has acquired defenseman Scott Mayfield from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Schenn & forward Adam Henrique.
Mayfield, 31, is a pending UFA but was putting together a great two-way campaign in Nashville after some nice offensive contributions last season. With a bevy of PP time that won’t appear to be available on the Island, Mayfield has put up 6-26-32 with a +6 rating.
Henrique, 33 and also a pending UFA, has chipped in 8 goals and 9 assists for the Isles this season despite having a role that saw him with inconsistent minutes on some nights. Recently he had found himself on the 4th line after cooling from a fast start but should get more consistent time with a Predators team that is going through their own spark searching on both sides of the ice.
The Isles turning Schenn around is pretty surprising, but the ability to land Mayfield also caught Hessel by surprise.
“We didn’t expect that to be the outcome when we engaged Nashville recently. We were focused on something else and then their (Cam Fowler) trade happened and it was pretty clear there was a bit of a surplus there.
Would have loved to keep Luke around but, such is the way of the salary cap unfortunately. We like what he was doing for our club.”
Schenn had been partnered with fellow newcomer Neal Pionk, and it would appear the natural flow would make Mayfield an ideal partner with the offensive wiz. He had a pretty active 3 games for the Isles, not recording a point but throwing 7 hits and recording 8 PIMs with a +3 rating.
While Schenn hadn’t been featured on the Isles PK other than as a temporary fill-in during game situations, it remains to be seen if Mayfield might be handled a bit differently. The Isles PK has rebounded of late after a rocky start to the season and they might be hard pressed to change it.
However it’s a PK unit that did feature Henrique, lately on the top line with Jordan Staal. The Isles will now have to navigate that, but it is worth mentioning that Chris Tierney came from Vegas with loads of PK time under his belt.
Hessel had glowing things to say about Henrique, notably one of his favorites since signing.
“Watching Adam for years in Toronto we prioritized him in UFA a few years ago and was thrilled he chose us. He was a great player for us and helped us accomplish a lot. Happy to find him a new home, keep him in a playoff race where he can get more minutes he deserves.”
The Isles have been playing at the cap virtually all season, and this deal actually saves them a minimal amount of money but not a whole lot in the scheme of things as they now have to call-up a forward from the farm to replace Henrique.
With just under $1M in cap space, if there’s any other deal out there as the deadline approaches 3+ weeks from now, it would still require money maneuvers and even that feels like a stretch with so many new faces in place.
But the Isles have done a lot to re-shape the team, particularly on defense where they continue to try to find ways to cut down on goals against while climbing in the standings.