Hockey Trade Rumors

Islanders general manager Garth Snow has had his usual trade discussions with his fellow GMs around the league, but there aren’t many reasonable prices for usable defensemen. Having already surrendered next June’s first-round pick (provided it is not a top-10 selection; in that case, the Islanders can defer it to 2015) in the deal that brought in Thomas Vanek, the Islanders don’t have any big chips to offer for a defenseman who might be available.

So this group is it, for now, the same way Poulin and recent call-up Anders Nilsson are the goaltending tandem for now, with Evgeni Nabokov out until at least mid-December with a groin injury.

The Islanders held a brief players-only meeting after Tuesday’s loss, the second such closed-door session in two weeks, having also held one after a similarly unpleasant loss in Columbus.

“We’ll keep all that stuff in here,” Hamonic said. “But there isn’t much more left to be said.”

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/islanders-bemoan-lack-of-defense-1.6472434