On a busy trade day before the expansion draft cutoff for deals, the Arizona Coyotes have acquired forward Andrew Ladd from the New York Islanders plus draft picks. For the Coyotes they received much needed draft picks. For the Islanders they got rid of Ladd’s $5.5 million cap hit for the next two seasons. At 35, it is unknown if Ladd has any gas left in the tank. He only appeared in four NHL games during the 2019-20 season and only one game in the AHL this past season.
TRADE: We have acquired forward Andrew Ladd, a 2021 2nd round pick, a 2022 conditional 2nd round pick, and a 2023 conditional 3rd round pick from the New York Islanders. https://t.co/YrfSSEOp9i
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) July 17, 2021
Andrew Ladd Traded to Arizona Coyotes For Salary Cap Relief
The Islanders wanted to get some cap relief, so who better to turn to than the accommodating Coyotes? The Arizona club will have an internal cap limit of about $65 million next season. And getting to the cap basement may be an issue. Not with this deal. It’s unknown if Ladd will actually play any games or not. His stay in New York was more than tenuous. The Coyotes certainly in some sort of rebuild, re-tool… whatever are anxious to replenish their draft picks to build for the future.
The move enables the Islanders to make some moves with some needed cap relief by sending Ladd’s contract west. They now project according to capfriendly.com to have about $13 million to acquire some players. And general manager Lou Lamoriello has been known to use his cap space wisely.
What This Means For The Future
New general manager Bill Armstrong of the Arizona Coyotes will be able to show off his draft prowess now. He now has three second round picks for 2021. In the deal, the 2023 third rounder is transferred if Ladd plays in at least one game during the 2022-23 season according to capfriendly.com.
Conditions on the picks:
2022 2nd round pick: Coyotes receive the better of the two 2022 2nd round picks the Islanders currently hold (NYI, COL)2023 3rd round pick: The 3rd round pick is transferred if Ladd plays in at least 1 game in 2022-23 https://t.co/hZp47GzeVh
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 17, 2021
This seems to satisfy both clubs and usually that must happen before any NHL deal happens. We’ll see if Ladd actually plays or if the Coyotes just “bought” some draft picks. In the meantime, this helps out the Islanders’ financial situation.
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