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Trade Bait: Lubomir Visnovsky

lubomirvisnovskygetty

The NHL’s trade deadline is Wednesday, April 3. Following is a player that may be moved. For more “Trade Bait,” click here.

Considering the fact that it wasn’t clear that Lubomir Visnovsky would even play this season, it’s surprising that the New York Islanders defenseman faces an interesting set of options as the trade deadline approaches.

On one hand, he could follow Evgeni Nabokov’s path of resistance followed by acceptance of the Islanders by signing a contract extension. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Isles GM Garth Snow reached out to at least have that discussion.

There aren’t specific rumors about Visnovsky’s services, but there’s plenty of logic to landing the 36-year-old defenseman. MLive.com names the Detroit Red Wings as one team that could use the offensively gifted blueliner.

It’s hard to imagine Ryan Whitney drawing more attention than Visnovsky, for one thing.

While Visnovsky’s Islanders numbers are modest (nine points in 21 games), the Slovakian has seasons of 58, 67 and 68 points on his resume (with the last coming in 2010-11 with Anaheim).

He brings plenty of appeal as a rental; while his cap hit is $5.6 million, it covers a salary of just $3 million this season. That contract expires this summer, so he’ll feel plenty motivated to put up numbers - whether it’s with the Islanders or not.