The New York Islanders need a puck-moving offensive defenseman if they want to become true Stanley Cup contenders. Here's three new names and a potential new direction the club can go this summer.

There's no doubt about it that the New York Islanders defense took a hit when Barry Trotz was shown the door following the 2021-22 season. 

The Islanders' defensive style under Trotz got them into the postseason in four of his five seasons at the helm. There was postseason success -- with back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2020 and 2021 -- but a lack of finishing chances ended both runs.

So, when Lane Lambert was appointed head coach, the goal was to create more offense, which the Islanders did before their season took a nose dive at the beginning of December.

The offensive increase overexposed the back end, as their structure was anything but sharp. That issue remained when the offense dried up. 

Instead of their elite defense keeping shooters to the outside, we saw the competition create scoring chances on the regular. 

When you have to rely on your goaltender every night, it doesn't allow them to stay fresh over an 82-game season.

Case in point Ilya Sorokin, who just seemed to have been overworked in a season where he finished as a Vezina finalist. 

Noah Dobson, who scored 13 goals for a second straight season, didn't show enough improvement in his own zone, and he has to if he's going to be trusted in critical situations. 

Alexander Romanov struggled for half the season before finally getting comfortable in the system after the All-Star break. 

Adam Pelech didn't look like his usual self even before he missed 21 games with an upper-body injury. Honestly, he was off this season and was one of the worst statistical defensemen in their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Scott Mayfield, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, set career highs across the board with six goals, 18 assists, and 24 points, with 119 shots while playing over 20 minutes (20:02) for the first time in his nine-year NHL career. 

Did we mention that he set a new career-high in blocked shots with 168, breaking the 100-hit mark for the second time in his career with 107?

Like an infomercial, "But wait, there's more!"

Mayfield also tied a career-high with 21 takeaways, while his giveaway mark of .780 per game was below his career average through his first eight seasons (.823). 

The biggest conversation this off-season has been about the Islanders re-signing Mayfield. The Islanders may not have the cap space to bring him back if he asks for a substantial raise from his expiring annual cap hit of $1.45 million.

Whether Mayfield is on the Islanders roster in 2023-24, that doesn't change the fact that they still need that offensive piece to bolster the backend, as Dobson cannot be the only defenseman scoring goals.

We now turn our attention to Ryan Pulock, the Islanders' best defenseman this past postseason. 

The 28-year-old was sound defensively, with a goal and three assists in the six-game series.

While his postseason play was positive heading into his offseason, Pulock has struggled to be the offensive player this team needs from the backend. 

There's a belief Pulock can still be that guy, and at $6.1 million per season until 2029-30, the Islanders need him to be a force and help take some pressure off the youngster Dobson.

But if the chance came about to get that scoring defenseman, and Pulock's postseason play got some team attention, could we see the Islanders sell high?

After former Islander Anthony Beauvillier forced a Game Seven after sniping Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the semi-finals of 2021, his value was likely never higher. 

He was fresh off a 12-goal campaign in 75 games after scoring 15 in just 47 games the year prior, numbers that don't jump off the scoresheet. 

But at 26, full of confidence with speed as a major selling point, there were likely teams that were comfortable taking on his $4.15 million cap hit annually over the next three seasons. You know, for the right price of likely a second-round pick, 

The Islanders decided to hold on to Beauvillier. But when the opportunity presented itself to upgrade the forward group, Beauvillier was shipped along with top prospect Aatu Räty and a conditional first-round pick for scorer Bo Horvat. 

This is not to say that the Beauvillier situation is the same as the potential Pulock situation. Unlike Beauvillier, Pulock has a no-trade clause until 2027-28. 

It's a thought -- not a likely scenario --but you never know what's on the mind of Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello.

Back on May 30, we wrote a piece regarding five defensemen that the Islanders could go to in free agency, given their pending unrestricted free-agent status. 

With the left-handed Vladislav Gavrikov signing an extension with the Los Angeles Kings, four names remain from the list: Right-shot John Klingberg and left shots Dmitry Orlov, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Carson Soucy. 

READ MORE: 5 Pending UFA Defensemen Islanders Could Target This Summer

If Mayfield walks, there are just two right-handers left, and it's always smart to have a righty and a lefty on each defense pairing.

There are three new names that we can ponder, two right-handers and one left-hander, who all would fit in on the Islanders.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson & Erik Karlsson

On July 16, the Canucks bought out 31-year-old defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who had four years at $8.25 million remaining on his contract. 

The once all-around elite defenseman for the Arizona Coyotes is coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. 

This past campaign was the worst of his career, with a career-low two goals after only scoring five in 2021-22. After coming off a foot injury sustained at the World Championships, OEL's skating was subpar, and he became not only weaker defensively but a liability. 

The Canucks played better when he was out of the lineup. 

OEL becomes a free agent on July 1st, and he may have to sign a short-term, prove-it deal after essentially falling off a cliff. 

Another name that has resurfaced, expectedly as we near the NHL Draft, is likely Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. The 33-year-old defenseman, with three years left at $11.5 million annually and a no-trade clause, broke the 100-point mark, reaching 101 points with 25 goals and 76 assists.

He's the first defenseman to reach that point feat since New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch recorded 102 points in 1992-93. 

The Sharks want to go in another direction as they continue to rebuild and rather not have Karlsson's massive contract on their books.

Karlsson doesn't want to take part in a rebuild.

While teams can retain up to 50 percent of a contract, which in Karlsson's case is $5.72 million, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported that the Sharks are only interested in retaining $2 million (a tad over 17 percent).

But Sharks general manager Mike Grier understands that teams would not want more than $8.5 million on their books, which would be retaining at least $2.5 million.

Now, if the Islanders -- Karlsson would have to waive his no-trade clause -- and the Sharks can agree on the retained number, who would the Sharks want?

Per a source, the Islanders inquired about Karlsson this past season. The Sharks had an interest in Dobson -- being part of the package that came the other way -- but Lamoriello believes Dobson will become an elite goal-scoring defenseman.

READ MORE: Romanov's Exponential Growth Could Catapult Dobson

Could the Islanders move Pulock in a Karlsson deal? Again, Pulock would have to agree to go to San Jose, which is currently trending in the opposite direction of winning.

It's rather unlikely.

As mentioned, the Islanders need help on the power play, and Karlsson can be the answer, while OEL had the ability to be that guy.

Maybe Karlsson's play, albeit likely not a 100-point season coming, gives the Islanders that power-play specialist that adds necessary scoring and transitioning skills that could help get the most out of this offense.

Or the asking price and cap hit don't outweigh Karlsson's strengths. That's when OEL could come into play.

Fun fact: There's only one player on the Islanders who shares OEL's agent Kevin Epp, and that's pending unrestricted free-agent defenseman Parker Wotherspoon.

The Islanders currently have $6.1 million in cap space, with the potential for that number to go as high as $11.1 before the free agency period begins if a certain contract is completely moved off the books.

But then there are unrestricted free agents that need signing.

In theory, if the Islanders wanted to retain all of Pierre Engvall, Zach Parise, Scott Mayfield, Parker Wotherspoon, and Semyon Varlamov, they could theoretically -- if everyone took team-friendly deals -- do it with $10 million, leaving $1.1 million to sign a UFA.

But real life likely won't allow for the Islanders to bring everyone back, so that means some more cap space. But it's also not guaranteed, signed, stamped, and approved that Josh Bailey's $5 million is heading out the door.

It's just the feeling the organization has given off, but as Lamoriello has said often, it takes two. 

Brett Pesce

As reported by LeBrun on July 16, the Carolina Hurricanes intend to extend defenseman Brett Pesce this summer. But if a deal can't be made, they intend to go the trade route, as Pesce will have max value with one year left on his contract. 

The 28-year-old's cap hit for the 2023-24 season is $4.025 million, the final year of a six-year extension. 

But Pesce loves it in Carolina, and Carolina loves him, so it's more than likely an extension will get finalized this summer. 

But, hey...you never know. 

Pesce, a native of Tarrytown, NY, not only puts up solid offensive numbers but is a heck of a defenseman who very rarely makes questionable decisions with the puck. 

According to PuckIQ.com, Pesce played more minutes versus 'elite' competition than anybody else on the team. And in those minutes, they had the highest GF% as well at 56.7% (17 scored to 13 against (H/t Ryan Henkel).

In a list of 24 defensive pairings to play over 700 minutes of five-on-five hockey in 2022-23, per CapFriendly, there was only one defensive pairing with a higher Corsi For % higher than the Brady Skjei and Pesce pairing.

And that was the Hurricanes' top pairing of Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin.

The Skjei-Pesce pairing was on the ice for the third-most Goals For, with 56, but also the third-most Goals Against.

On a list of 184 defensemen to play 700 or more minutes at five-on-five this season, when Pesce was on the ice, the Hurricanes owned a 58.23 Corsi For percentage, the eighth best.

So why would the Hurricanes not re-sign this guy?

As Henkel, our Carolina Hurricanes beat reporter, mentioned in a recent piece following the LeBrun report, the concern with Pesce long-term is his health and longevity.

Pesce will, without question, cost more than a Mayfield, likely a few million more, but he is an upgrade. 

Pesce isn't the transitioner the Islanders would need, and this is likely the only trade where Pulock could be a want with the Hurricanes very much in win-now mode. 

However, given Pulock's annual cap hit of $6.15 million and lower offensive numbers than Pesce, it wouldn't make sense for Carolina to make this move unless Pulock was just a part of the package. 

If the Islanders are going to have the money to explore what is not a deep free-agency class or have the ability to acquire a top-flight player -- while retaining their own talent -- the 2023 NHL Draft is the place to make "hockey trades." 

That event is coming up next week, as the 2023 NHL Draft begins on Wednesday, June. 28 in Nashville.