Islanders acquire winger Ondrej Palat and picks from Devils in exchange for Max Tsyplakov
Ondrej Palat of the Devils in action against the Seattle Kraken at Prudential Center on Jan. 14, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. Credit: Getty Images/Sarah Stier
Carson Soucy’s time as the newest Islander lasted less than 24 hours.
A day after acquiring the left-shooting defenseman Soucy from the rival Rangers for a third-round pick this year, general manager Mathieu Darche struck a deal with the Islanders’ other geographic rival, the Devils, for wing Ondrej Palat.
The Islanders face the Rangers on Wednesday night at UBS Arena and again on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden and play the Devils on Feb. 5 at Prudential Center.
The Islanders sent underperforming forward Max Tsyplakov to the Devils and also acquired a 2026 third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in 2027. Soucy, 31, is a pending unrestricted free agent but Palat is in the fourth season of a five-year, $30 million deal, which is why the Devils sent extra assets to shed his salary.
Darche, the Lightning’s former assistant general manager, is well-acquainted with the 34-year-old Palat from their time together in Tampa Bay, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
The Islanders have needed more scoring production from their wings since Kyle Palmieri suffered a season-ending left knee injury on Nov. 28.
Rookie forward Cal Ritchie missed Monday’s 4-0 win in Philadelphia with a lower-body injury and is listed as day to day.
On defense, lefty Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) was lost for the remainder of the regular season on Nov. 18 and right-hander Ryan Pulock (upper body) has missed the last two games.
Palat has four goals and six assists in 51 games for the Devils. He scored a career-high 23 goals for the Lightning in 2013-14 and had a career-high 63 points on 16 goals and 47 assists for the Lightning in 2014-15, when they lost in the Cup Final to Chicago. In all, Palat has 181 goals and 334 assists in 876 career games for the Lightning and Devils.
Palat has been selected to Team Czechia for next month’s Winter Games, giving the Islanders their second Olympian after Bo Horvat (Team Canada).
Tsyplakov, 27, in his second NHL season after parts of six seasons in the KHL, has one goal and one assist in 27 games this season and has been a frequent healthy scratch.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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