Ondrej Palat was traded to the New York Islanders by the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday for Maxim Tsyplakov.
The Islanders also received a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Palat has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 51 games this season. The 34-year-old forward has one season remaining on a five-year, $30 million contract ($6 million average annual value) he signed with the Devils on July 14, 2022.
“We’re going to miss ‘Pally.’ He’s a tremendous guy, great leader. [He’s] often the example in terms of hard work and competitiveness, practices, games,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said following a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. “So, a lot of that stuff doesn’t show up on the score sheet, and I know he’s given a hard time here because of that, but he’s a tremendous person, a tremendous character, and for a team that’s been trying to get there, he’s a guy that’s been there, done that and sets the example in lots of ways. So, we’re going to miss him.”
Selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round (No. 208) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Palat has 515 points (181 goals, 334 assists) in 876 regular-season games for the Lightning and Devils. He also has 103 points (51 goals, 52 assists) in 155 Stanley Cup Playoff games and helped Tampa Bay win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s definitely not easy. I think everybody in here knows what Pally meant to this team, to this organization,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “He’s a guy that’s won it, he’s a guy that taught us a lot. He was always a guy I asked for help if I needed it. He was just a great teammate, and obviously it’s never easy to see a guy go like that, but obviously we wish him all the best and we all know that’s part of the business.”
Tsyplakov has two points (one goal, one assist) in 27 games this season, his second in the NHL. The 27-year-old forward, who signed with New York as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2024, had 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 77 games as a rookie last season.
That performance led to the Islanders signing Tsyplakov to a two-year contract on July 25, but his ice time has dropped by more than five minutes this season (14:58 to 9:39).
It was the second trade in as many days for the Islanders (28-19-5), who are third in the Metropolitan Division. They acquired defenseman Carson Soucy in a trade with the New York Rangers on Monday for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Devils (27-24-2) are sixth in the Metropolitan, nine points behind the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, who hold the two wild card spots from the Eastern Conference.
