Rangers Holding Out Reilly Smith Again For Trade-Related Purposes; Islanders Not Following Suit

NEW YORK, NY -- When the New York Rangers battle the New York Islanders on Monday night, Reilly Smith will be held out yet again. 

The Rangers have begun their retooling, trading pending unrestricted free agents Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. They had previously traded Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken, but they may not be done yet. 

On the other hand, the Islanders still have yet to come to terms on contract extensions with pending unrestricted free agents Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, and the trade deadline is this Friday at 3 PM ET. 

It's unclear whether general manager Lou Lamoriello has decided on the direction he wants to take with his franchise. We won't know until we know. 

So, when the puck drops a tad after 7 PM ET, Nelson and Palmieri will both be in the Islanders' lineup. 

We asked Roy ahead of their 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators about whether or not they would be sitting players for trade-related purposes, but he laughed it off, not wanting to answer the question. 

One thing is clear. 

The Islanders are focused on making the playoffs, despite entering Monday night five points back of the second wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them, one being the Rangers.  

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