Islanders rumors: Elliotte Friedman says teams ‘poking around’ for Maxim Tsyplakov trade

The New York Islanders are 5-1 in their last six games, sitting at third place in the Metropolitan Division. On Thursday, they seemingly avoided the worst-case scenario with Bo Horvat’s injury scare. But even with injuries piling up, they still have a surplus of forwards. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says that the Islanders have been called with trade interest in Maxim Tsyplakov.

“Some other names to keep an eye on as they fight for lineup time: Maxim Tsyplakov (Islanders) and Matias Maccelli (Toronto),” Friedman reported. “I’m surprised at Tsyplakov, I think there’s a good player there. He had a strong NHL debut in 2024-25, but struggled to start this year and was squeezed out of the now-deeper Long Island lineup. Thankfully, Patrick Roy said Bo Horvat’s injury isn’t serious, so there may be a short window for Tsyplakov re-establish himself, but I heard other teams are poking around.”

Tysplakov came over as a free agent from Russia before the 2024-25 season. On a one-year deal, he played some solid bottom-six minutes, putting up 25 points in 77 games. But this year has not gone as well, with one goal and no assists in 20 games. He has been a healthy scratch in 11 games this season.

The Islanders nearly went to arbitration with Tsyplakov in the offseason, which is rare for the NHL. Despite the optimism around the 27-year-old, New York could be ready to move on.

The Islanders were not projected to make a playoff push this year, especially after their disastrous ’24-25 campaign. But the injection of energy from Matthew Schaefer has carried into all corners of the locker room. That has led their trade candidates to change from veterans Anders Lee and JG Pageau to Tsyplakov. If he does not fit with this club now, he will not fit moving forward when their prospects start to rise.

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