Breaking: Islanders have made a huge deal with the Golden Knights.

The New York Islanders have reportedly struck a deal with the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

According to New York Islanders insider Arthur Staple, the Islanders will be sending their first round pick to the Golden Knights in exchange for Vegas selecting a player that the Islanders have determined is expendable. 

From Staple:

The Islanders have a deal in place to send their first-round pick to Vegas to steer the expansion franchise toward selecting a designated player off the Isles’ unprotected list, two NHL sources confirmed to Newsday on Monday.

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The player designated for selection is believed to be wing Nikolay Kulemin, who has one year at a $4.187-million salary cap hit. There may also, according to the sources, be another piece in the deal going from the Islanders to Vegas.

This is obviously a huge deal, and is a sign of how desperate some National Hockey League franchises will be when it comes to avoiding the worst of the expansion draft. Even more interesting now will be whether or not Vegas uses the pick, or tries to flip it in a trade of their own.