The New York Islanders were facing another cap crunch and it was just a matter of who would get moved. They ended up being able to shed the Josh Bailey contract, which is a good thing for them considering his falling out of the lineup. Bailey is on the move, and he may have a very talented centre to play with in his new location:

Bailey has one year left at a $5M cap hit. Let's break it down.

What Chicago Gets

UPDATE: Bailey has been waived for the purpose of a buyout, rendering much of this take irrelevant, but glean from it what you will…

At his peak, Bailey was a wonderful playmaker. From 2016-2019, he posted three straight seasons of at least 40 assists, and did so playing under 18 minutes a night on a team that was middle-of-the-road in scoring. He was in the 93^rd percentile for assists per minute in the league, ahead of names like Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, and Aleksander Barkov.

He is still fine as a playmaker but the problem is there's not much else to his game. His 5-on-5 shot rate over the last two seasons is, quite literally, in the bottom-10 among 366 qualified forwards. His defensive metrics, measured by Evolving Hockey, have gone from hovering around average for a few years to the 7^th percentile, or near the bottom of the league. Players can be poor defensively – Tage Thompson and Nikita Kucherov are not good defensive forwards – but they have to excel offensively to balance it out. Being a good playmaker, not even a great one, but not being able to score or play defence makes your hold on a roster spot very tenuous. Just ask Pittsburgh fans about Mikael Granlund.

That won't be a concern in Chicago. They may even be hoping for bad defence to help ensure a higher pick in 2024. Though he's a left shot, like new Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall, he is capable of playing on the right side. Bailey could be going from the press box to Connor Bedard's wing in one offseason. Not a bad upgrade.

Adding Bailey does put the even-strength roles of Lukas Reichel and Andreas Athanasiou into question. A week ago, they appeared likely options to spend meaningful time with Bedard. That is a lot more muddled now. Between Bedard, Hall, Bailey, Reichel, and Athanasiou, someone isn't getting top PP minutes. It also isn't great news for power-play staples last year like Taylor Raddysh.

Not much changes for the Islanders' roster besides what the cap space gives them. Bailey was a frequent press box visitor in 2022-23 and spent a lot of time in the bottom-6 besides. It does give someone like Hudson Fasching a bit more security on his roster spot (for now).

Who This Helps

Josh Bailey

Hudson Fasching

Who This Hurts

Andreas Athanasiou

Taylor Raddysh

Lukas Reichel