MAKE OR BREAK: Should Islanders TRADE Mathew Barzal for Brady Tkachuk in Franchise-Altering Deal?

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There are rumors that Ottawa Senators Captain Brady Kachuk may want out of town.

We'll discuss what he would bring to the New York Islanders, what it would cost to get

him and whether or not it's a smart move.

All that coming up next on today's Lockdown Islanders Podcast.

Your Lockdown Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Lockdown

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Gilmarten here, welcome everybody to the Thursday edition of the Lockdown Islanders Podcast,

part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, I want to thank everyone

who makes Lockdown Islanders, your first listen every day, don't forget to subscribe

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We have a busy show, today we'll talk about the Brady Kachuk rumors, how he would change

the islanders, what it would cost to get him and whether it's worth exploring, we'll

also have some big news about Ilya Sorokin and Marcus Hogberg and we'll continue our

player by player analysis of the islanders with Tony DiAngelo.

Let's start with Brady Kachuk, captain of the Ottawa Senators.

Islander fans may remember well that in the last two meetings between the Senators and

the Islanders, it was Brady Kachuk, who basically

requested, and I'll put that in air quotes, of Islanders captain Anders Lee to have a fight

right off the drop of the puck and in both games they did and obviously Brady Kachuk brings

certain things to the table that the islanders would lack.

Let's start with the obvious, goal scored in only 60 games this past season, Kachuk scored

22 goals, keep in mind, missing 22 games, he scored enough goals that would have placed

him tied for third on the islanders with Emil Heinemann, Heinemann played all 82 games.

The only players ahead of him would have been Shafer, who also played all 82 games and

had one more goal and Bohorvat.

Keep in mind that Kachuk is a consistent goal score.

I wouldn't quite call him a sniper, but he put together back to back to back 30 goal

seasons from 2021-2022 through 2023-2024.

In 2024-2025, he missed 10 games and finished with 29 goals and then this year, as we said,

22 goals in 60 games, essentially he would have come out with around the same 29 goals

if you pro-rated.

He is also a more physical presence, something the islanders also lack.

Went over 100 penalty minutes, five times already in his career, probably would have reached

that this year again, had he played more games.

Six-wise, 162 hits in 60 games, that's 2.5 plus hits a game and again, the previous year

when he was a little healthier, 228 hits, the year before that, 294 hits, he doesn't take

a lot of BS.

He was also very good this year in the face-off.57.6% on face-offs.

He gives you a different attitude and I think that's important for the New York Islanders.

The islanders have become, in recent years, a team that is way too easy to play against

and Brady Kachuk, for any criticism you may have about him, certainly doesn't let you

off easy when you're playing against his team and that in and of itself would be a big

boon.

So, if he really wants out of Ottawa, what does it take to get him to the island and what

are the obstacles?

The rumors, and again, I don't know how accurate the rumors are, but the rumors are, it would

be a franchise changing one for one, maybe with a few modifications, but overall, it would

be the balance of the deal would be Brady Kachuk to the islanders, Matt Barzal to the

sends.

So what are the obstacles?

Well, let's start with the obvious.

Matt Barzal can only be traded to nine teams.

I do not know if the Ottawa Senators are one of them.

It's very possible Barzi would have to agree to that trade.

Brady Kachuk has a full, no movement clause, whether he'd be willing to come to Long Island

and play with Matthew Schaefer, and Elias Sarokin, and play for Peter De Boer.

He would have to approve any deal.

Here's something that's a little surprising, but I think is another thing in the islanders

favor.

Brady Kachuk is younger than Matt Barzal by two, three years.

Brady Kachuk is 26, he'll turn 27 in September.

His cap hit is also lower, Brady Kachuk makes $8.2, a little more than $8.2 million a year.

That is his cap hit for the next two seasons that he is under contract.

Many becomes a UFA in the summer of 2029.

Compare that to Matt Barzal, 28, making $9.15 million under contract until 2031.

So a few more years of Barzi at a slightly higher rate.

So if you make this swap, one for one, the islanders would be getting younger, more physical,

get more goal scoring, and a little bit of cap relief.

Not a lot, but you're saving a little less than a million dollars under the cap.

You're losing, however, in any such deal.

Speed skating the passing ability that Matt Barzal brings to the table.

And you're also, and believe me, islander fans may differ on their opinion about this.

But you're changing the culture of the locker room.

Matt Barzal, for all those critics who say the islanders have a country club atmosphere,

Matt Barzal is one of the faces of the country club.

You move on from Matt Barzal and bring in Brady Kachuk, you're changing the culture of the

locker room.

And I think that would be a positive.

I think the culture in the locker room needs some refreshment for a lack of a nicer way

to say it.

But ultimately, ultimately, I think it would make sense for the islanders to at least explore.

There's a lot of obstacles to making this happen.

Both players would be at the top of that list as today, after we agree to it.

And again, like the islanders ten and no record in overtime, for example, has a lot to do

with Barzal, Horvat and Schaefer.

Those were the big three in overtime who skated so well and worked well together.

And that was always a plus.

And another thing I have to add, as far as Brady Kachuk goes.

And another reason why I would be more in favor of doing this trade if it's even possible.

The power play 2021, 2022, Brady Kachuk, nine power play goals, eight power play assists,

2022, 2023, 11 power play goals, 18 power play assists, 2023, 2024, 12 power play goals,

10 power play assists.

The numbers just keep going.

Now, this year, a little less, only five power play goals, 15 power play assists.

So we still contributing on the power play.

Islander fans, I don't have to tell you how much work our power play needs at this point.

We went from what, 31st or 30th a year ago, all the way up to 30th this year at 16.5%.

Could the addition of Brady Kachuk get the islanders from, let's even just say 30th to 23rd

or 22nd, another year of Matthew Schaefer, a little more mature, a little more experienced,

that could help move the needle a little bit, a healthy Kyle Palmerie could move the needle

a little bit, maybe just maybe you get the power play from really, really bad to average,

maybe a little below average.

We'll see, but to me, this deal is at least worth exploring and every dayers will recall

I have mentioned, I am skeptical about trading Matthew Barsall, but I have gone on the record

as saying and I still believe this, if you're going to trade Matthew Barsall, you better

get one heck of a return back the other way.

Well Brady Kachuk would be one heck of a return.

He is a legitimate 30 goal scorer, he's good on face offs, he helps your power play,

he provides leadership, that would be yet a fourth former or current captain if Anders

Lee comes back on this roster, it would be Kachuk Lee Shen and Horvath.

Again, don't know if that's going to happen, if you ever get Kachuk, if Lee comes back

to unknowns, but he adds leadership, he adds physicality and he adds goal scoring and

helps on the power play and he's younger and a little less expensive than Matt Barsall

and he changes the culture.

And my mind makes you tougher to play against.

In my mind, that checks all the boxes, where if I'm going to trade Matt Barsall, a player

like Brady Kachuk would be one of the guys I would trade him for.

Again, it's a long shot, there's a lot of obvious obstacles that would need to be overcome

to make it happen.

But in my mind, it is worth exploring.

What say you Islander fans, we have our poll question up on YouTube, so let us know

what you think.

Would you be interested in exploring that trade?

We have got a lot more to get to on today's show, we've got news about two goalies in

the Islander's organization, Ilja Sirokin and Marcus Hogberg will also be grading Tony

D'Angelo and four are Islander's birthday of the day, a very popular rugged defenseman

from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, who was with the Islanders from the late 80s into the late

90s, finished up with the New York Rangers briefly at the end of his career.

Let's see if you can guess who this is.

All that coming up on today's Locked On Islander's podcast.

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News about two goalies in the Islanders organization, or at least they, well, they technically

still are both in the Islanders organization, at least for a little while longer.

Just for Ilya Serokin, for the second time in his career, he is nominated as a Visinotropi

finalist.

He finished second a few years back.

Now he is one of three finalists and the other two finalists, by the way, in this Jeremy

Smeiman and Andre Vasilevsky, I would say Vasilevsky is the favorite, basically Serokin

himself downplayed his chances of winning it after his and the team's late season collapse

and failure to make the playoffs.

He finished the season with a 906A percentage of 268 goals against average, led all goalies

in shutouts with seven and high danger saves with 452 high danger save percentage 864.

And you know, here is a guy who in games where the team gave up 30 or more shots.

He was 15 and five.

So that is impressive.

The shutout total now he leaves the Islanders in all time shutouts, passing Chico Resh in

that department.

Remember, this is voted on by the NHL general managers.

So general managers around the league, recognizing the excellence of Ilya Serokin and he is one

of the three Visinotropi finalists.

You will find out whether or not he wins the award at the NHL awards, which generally

happen over the off season right before the draft.

So we'll see how it all plays out, but good luck to Ilya Serokin, he is for the second

time in his career, regarded as one of the top three goalies in the national hockey league.

And when you see, here's the thing, I don't think he's going to win it because the light

thing had a better season as a team.

The numbers are a little better, maybe for Vasilevsky and or Swayman, but the lack of

support that Serokin had to deal with, giving up so many high danger chances and just being

stuck with that kind of a situation, game in and game out, not easy.

And I think the GMs recognize that.

Now the other piece of gold-tending news is that, well, Marcus Hodgberg will no longer

be with the New York Islanders organization next summer.

He has signed a new contract with link coping HC of the SHL back in Sweden.

I hope I'm even coming close to pronouncing that right in my apologies to any Swedish

speakers out there.

I do not have a good Swedish accent, but anyway, Hodgberg signing a three-year deal to head

back to Sweden and play there.

He spent the last two seasons with the Islanders, most of the time with Bridgeport, some of

the time as the Islanders back up this past year, 12, 13, and 6 in 31 games for Bridgeport

a 292 goals against an 898 save percentage.

He played in both playoff games, only gave up three goals in 35 shots even though Bridge

port lost both of those playoff games.

But I wish Marcus Hodgberg all the luck in the world.

I think, you know, I hope he does well back in Sweden.

He stepped forward for the Islanders not so much this year, but the previous season,

when Semi and Varlamov was injured, he was there as a very solid insurance policy.

That's his role in the NHL.

He is a fringe back-up slash solid AHL goalie and maybe in Sweden.

He will get the opportunity to play more in a higher league and just do his thing back

in his home country.

So best of luck to Marcus Hodgberg, but he will not be back in a New York Islanders

uniform in 2026, 2027.

Now, obviously, we don't know whether or not David Riddick will be back.

Big save Dave, an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, unless Matthew

Dorsch signs him to a new contract and we do not know the status of Semi and Varlamov.

He played two games late in the season at Bridgeport, could not play in the playoffs.

Is he going to be ready to go in the fall in training camp?

And if he is, can he stay healthy?

The Islanders, I'll say it this way, they cannot enter training camp with just Ilya

Serokin and Semi and Varlamov as NHL caliber goalings.

Whether or not, you know, who they bring in remains to be seen, but they've got to bring

in somebody.

We'll see what happens.

More to get to on today's show, we'll continue our player by player analysis of the Islanders

with Tony D'Angelo, we'll give him his grade for the season and talk about his potential

role at these back next year, plus we'll have our Islanders birthday of the day.

All that and more coming up next.

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We continue with our player by player analysis of the New York Islanders.

We're going to talk Tony DiAngelo today yesterday.

We talk David Riddick the day before Anders Lee.

We've been doing this now for this is the second week and we'll keep going until we analyze

all the players on the New York Islanders and basically, you know, we'll analyze their

season.

A grade is based on a combination of expectations and performance.

Then we'll talk about their potential role if they come back next year.

Tony DiAngelo played in 76 games for the Islanders.

He had five goals, 35 points.

He was a minus five plus minus had 43 penalty minutes.

One goal on the power play six assists on the power play had 148 shots.

So essentially a little, a hair less than two shots on goal per game, average 19 minutes

and eight seconds of ice time per game.

That was down four minutes per game from the previous season to words, Matthew Schaefer.

I think that made the difference there and he blocked 70 shots, roughly one a game.

He had a 35 hits, 20 takeaways, 96 giveaways and here's the thing about Tony DiAngelo.

He's good skater.

He is a good passer.

He is a solid second power play point man who can quarterback the power play.

His defense is not great.

But what he does do fairly well is skate the puck out of the zone or pass the puck out

of the zone when it comes to picking up his man in the defensive zone or get back in time.

Not consistent and I'm being nice when I say not consistent.

But here's the bottom line about Tony DiAngelo.

Number one, when he missed a few games late in the season, the islanders definitely noticed

his absence.

It was a problem for this team.

And I think that spoke volumes that DiAngelo, he's been good in the locker room, good

off the ice, the alleged issues that have followed him at some of his earlier NHL stops

did not appear to be an issue on Long Island, which is great.

He's a right shot defenseman.

They are harder to come by and he was cheap $1.75 million contract.

He is now an unrestricted free agent.

As far as I'm concerned, I would bring back Tony DiAngelo on a one, maybe a two year

deal.

I go to two to two and a half million dollars somewhere in that range.

Maybe go to two and a half if it's a one year deal, two and a quarter if it's a two year

deal.

A A V. And I would bring him back because he is a good second offensive defenseman on

a team and they missed him.

You got to live with his defensive shortcomings.

I would say that it's better than 50, 50 that he's back, maybe 60, 40 and my grade for

Tony DiAngelo this year is a solid B. I think his offense was B plus to a minus range.

Again, it's a mixture of expectations and performance.

So what were the expectations?

He got to keep that in mind.

His defensive play was maybe a C. But I mean, to me, the fact that they missed him as much

as they did when he was out of the lineup leads me to give him that B grade and hope that

Matthew Darsch finds a way to bring back Tony DiAngelo for next season.

We'll see if he does and we'll keep you up to date on that and all things Islanders

all off season long.

And now for our Islanders birthday of the day and, well, today is the 58th birthday

of former Islanders defenseman Rich Pilon from Saskatoon Saskatchewan 6 feet, 216 pounds,

a seventh round pick by the Islanders in 1986 after three great seasons in the Western

Hockey League with the Prince Albert Raiders.

Make no mistake.

Pilon was a tough guy.

He was physical.

He hit.

He dropped the gloves as a rookie.

I think his stats illustrate a lot 14 assists in 62 games.

No goals 242 penalty minutes.

He had more than that in 97 98 when he had 291 penalty minutes after joining the Islanders

in 88 89 he was with the team all the way through the 99 2000 season was claimed on waivers

by the Rangers played with them for two seasons and then briefly had eight games with the

blues to close out his NHL career in 631 career NHL games.

Rich Pilon had eight goals and 77 points, but 1,745 penalty minutes.

He played in 15 playoff games.

All of them with the Islanders during their 93 run to the conference final.

He had no points, but 50 penalty minutes in those Stanley Cup playoff games.

One of his better games as an Islander, how about December 26, 1991, a boxing day match

up between the Islanders and the Devils, Chris Terrari, the goalie for New Jersey, Glenn

Healey, the goalie for the Islanders.

And well, basically it was a three to two Devils lead after two periods, Peter Stasney

made it four to two in favor of New Jersey early in the third, but that's when our Islanders

birthday of the day.

Rich Pilon scored his first goal of the season and Dave McElwayne got the only assist

late goals by Rob Demio, short-handed and Derek King with one second left, caused this

game to end in a five, five tie for Rich Pilon.

He had a goal on his only shot and it was important because without it you do not get

the tie.

Rich Pilon, tough guy, great teammate, physical hockey player, he is our Islanders birthday

of the day.

Don't forget to check out the every day or club you'll get ad free episodes and access

to a group chat with me and other hardcore Islander fans who listen to Locked On Islanders,

tap the link in the show notes or go to Locked On Islanders.supercast.com for more information.

I'm Gil Martin, I've been covering the New York Islanders for two decades and I wrote

the book Ice Wars on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 till

the modern era, so glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey.

If you have a question, a comment, maybe a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future

episode, just email us at Locked On Islanders at gmail.com, if you leave your first name

and where you're from, we're happy to mention you on the show when we discuss whatever's

on your mind.

You can follow the show on x at Locked On Isles, you can follow me Gil Martin on x at Ice

Wars, N-Y-R-V-S-N-Y-I, we'll keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long

and it's always great to talk Islanders hockey with you, game time or anytime.

Every day as we are back tomorrow, we will continue our player by player analysis of the Islanders

with Scott Mayfield and we will also dip into the mailbag and have the latest Islanders

news notes and happenings.

Until then, have a great day everybody, stay safe and of course, let's go Islanders.