According to the New York Post's Larry Brooks, J.G. Pageau may be a trade piece soon, as Lou Lamoriello has awakened from free-agency slumber. This of course may be the result of the New York Islanders landing Nazem Kadri, if the speculation is true of course. But it remains to be seen as of yet.
His current contract had an average annual value of $5 million, for 6 years which is a drastic overpay. Pageau's deal also has a modified no-trade clause attached to it! Awfully expensive for this third-line center.
So not only did Lou overpay for this asset, he mismanaged the futures for a 40-point forward on this trade as well. Pageau has been a successful role player under the guidance of Barry Trotz, but only recently rebounded his production in 2021-2022, despite the Islanders' setbacks this past season.
Lou definitely loves to stack his teams with aging role players, however, without Trotz behind the bench, the math doesn't add up anymore. Trotz's style of the trap got the Islanders to the post-season three times during his tenure but I don't see it happening this year.
