Stefen Rosner
The New York Islanders have already had a Strome play for their organization, as Ryan Strome was drafted fifth overall in 2011 and played four seasons on the island before being dealt to the Edmonton Oilers, then to the New York Rangers, and now on Wednesday signing with the Anaheim Ducks. But what if the New York Islanders brought in Ryan’s younger brother, Dylan Strome.
After a bounce-back season in the windy city for Dylan Strome, the Chicago Blackhawks did not send him a qualifying offer. The Blackhawks also decided to trade away any promising players, in Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach, and are clearly tanking for Connor Bedard in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft.
So Dylan Strome is now a free agent.
Before we dive into Dylan Strome’s career, the New York Islanders’ miss of Johnny Gaudreau led to more misses with other available free agents leaving the board. Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, as one would expect, has a Plan B and a Plan C this free agency, as they were never the front runners for Gaudreau.
Improvements are likely to come via trade, but there are cheaper options available in free agency, with Dylan Strome being one.
Drafted third overall in 2015 by the Arizona Coyotes, Dylan Strome played two seasons in Arizona, not providing much of anything–the same issues Ryan Strome had early in his career.
Through 28 games for the Coyotes, the 6’3 centerman had just four goals and six assists. On Nov. 25, 2018, Strome and Brandon Perlini were dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks for Nick Schmaltz.
In the 58 games to end that season, Dylan Strome notched 17 goals with 34 assists for 51 points, with a total of 20 goals, 37 assists, and 57 points in 2018-19. The offense was in there, but it was about getting it out of him on a consistent basis.
In 2019-20, Strome 12 goals and 26 assists in 58 games, the first season impacted by COVID-19. He was on pace for around 17 goals that season, a slight downtick in production.
In the shortened 2020-21 campaign, Strome only played in 40 of the Blackhawks’ 56 games, with just nine goals and eight assists.
But this past season, Strome rebounded in a big way, as he scored a career-high 22 goals, with 26 assists to go with him, on a bad Chicago Blackhawks team. He also won 53.22% of his draws.
As mentioned in my ‘Islanders Lose Out on Gaudreau, Metro Teams Bolster Up‘ piece, the acquisition of a center would mean someone would have to move to the wing, barring fallout trades from a signing.
There is a little beef between Dylan Strome and Mathew Barzal, after something that transpired early in 2021-22, in a 3-2 shootout win for Chicago over New York back in November. During the overtime period, Mathew Barzal did his usual thing, where he entered the zone, skated around, and then took the puck back to the neutral zone to regroup and reset.
After the game, Strome had some comments about Barzal’s overtime antics.
“Yeah. Barzal likes to hold onto the puck. I guess, maybe he’s trying to get his Corsi up or something like that,” Strome said. “He just kept circling back. It is what it is. Well take it to [a shootout]. We’ve got great shooters.”
Just a little postgame banter.
What makes Dylan Strome someone the Islanders should go after.
In 2021-22, Strome averaged 17:26 minutes per game, a career-high, playing on the top line alongside Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane more often than not. He was third on the team in goals, fourth in assists, and fifth in shots.
As mentioned, Strome only played in 69 games and again played with DeBrincat and Kane.
Mark Lazarus, who covers the Chicago Blackhawks for The Athletic, shared that Strome scored 18 of his 22 goals as a member of this line when the threesome were placed together in eary January (41 games). 21 of his 26 assists came over that span.
Given the fact that the Blackhawks failed to move Dylan Strome and that he wasn’t given a qualifying offer, his cost will be rather low.
The question becomes, can Dylan Strome have continued success on Long Island and could he and Barzal be a match?
