With a center trade market that might not be as busy as initially anticipated and one top option (Brock Nelson) off the UFA list already, teams will be starting to take a look at other options to try to upgrade down the middle. It appears one of the players is receiving some attention now as Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News relays (Twitter
links) that at least three teams have called to inquire about Islanders middleman Jean-Gabriel Pageau over the last week. One of those teams is believed to be the Bruins.
The 32-year-old will be entering the final year of his contract next season on a deal that carries a $5MM cap charge but only a $3.5MM salary. Pageau will have some say in the matter as well as he has a 16-team no-trade clause.
Pageau has been a speculative trade candidate for a couple of years now with the Islanders often running close to having salary cap issues. At the time, the thought was that New York might have to incentivize a team to take on Pageau’s contract or potentially pay it down in order to get a positive-value return.
That shouldn’t be the case now, however. With an expiring contract and a thinning-out market, new GM Mathieu Darche should be in a good spot to elicit a good return for Pageau’s services.
It also certainly helps that Pageau is coming off one of his best offensive years. This season, he had 14 goals and 28 assists in 79 games. His assist total was a career-high while his point total came in one shy of his personal best set back in 2015-16 with Ottawa. Over his past four seasons, he has notched at least 33 points and has scored double-digit goals in 10 of the last 11 years.
Pageau has also long been an above-average player at the faceoff dot and took that to another level in 2024-25, winning a career-best 59.6% of his draws while leading all Islander forwards in shorthanded ice time. Basically, he continues to be a middle-six option as he has been for the last several seasons.
The Islanders have nearly $21MM in projected cap space this summer, per PuckPedia. However, with a long list of restricted free agents to contend with, that money is going to get spent up in a hurry and New York will be right back up against the cap ceiling. That makes Pageau a logical candidate to try to move over the coming weeks and it appears New York will have multiple suitors for his services if they go that route.
The fit in Boston would be intriguing. The Bruins already have Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha under contract while youngsters Fraser Minten and Matthew Poitras are waiting in the wings. While Boston could use a center upgrade toward the top of their lineup, Pageau would fit more in the middle of their forward group where their depth already lies. That said, one of the veterans could be moved to the wing if need be or moved elsewhere if GM Don Sweeney wants to further shake up his group. In the meantime, we’ll see in the coming weeks if any other suitors emerge for Pageau’s services.
