The Islanders have managed to become relevant this season, despite the absence of an established goal scorer.
But GM Garth Snow may be in the market to change that, if Atlanta’s star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk is made available before the March 3 trade deadline, a source told The Post yesterday.
Kovalchuk, who has 26 goals in 39 games this year, will be a free agent and is believed to be seeking a deal in the neighborhood of 12 years, $120 million — which could be too rich for the beleaguered Atlanta franchise.
It remains to be seen what Atlanta could be offered for Kovalchuk’s services, but the Isles’ No. 1 pick from a year ago, John Tavares, as well as Kyle Okposo figure to be untouchable.
Snow wouldn’t comment on any potential deal, but added that, “We’re not deviating from our plan of building up from within and we’re not interested in breaking up our young core.”
The Isles also remain high on the streaking Josh Bailey, but they do have an abundance of highly regarded prospects, including Oshawa defenseman Calvin de Haan; Brandon defensemen Travis Hamonic; Saskatoon defenseman Jyri Niemi; Russian winger Kirill Petrov, currently playing for Almetivsk; and 22-year-old winger Jesse Joensuu, currently playing for AHL Bridgeport.
Atlanta did not receive a king’s ransom when they shipped Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh two years ago, so it’s not entirely unreasonable to think the Isles could do something without mortgaging their future.
For the Isles, a franchise that is seeking an identity — and an arena — the addition of Kovalchuk would be enormous, to say nothing of the team’s improvement on the ice as they try to make a run at a playoff spot.
The last time the Isles pulled off a move like this was three years ago when they traded a pair of prospects and a first-round pick to Edmonton for Ryan Smyth, who eventually spurned the Isles’ efforts to keep him and wound up signing with Colorado.
Kovalchuk almost became an Islander at the beginning of his career, but despite finishing with the worst record, the Isles did not get the top pick, so he was selected by Atlanta.
At the time, he expressed interest in playing with the team, but with the franchise’s future still in limbo — as well as a possible deal from the KHL coming if he becomes a free agent — his current level of enthusiasm about the Isles is unknown.