Islanders Get Thomas, but Salary Rules Are the Motivation

Winslow Townson/Associated Press The Islanders traded for Tim Thomas, but he is unlikely ever to play for them.

In a trade expressly designed to guarantee that they reach the salary floor by Friday’s N.H.L. deadline, the Islanders on Thursday acquired Tim Thomas, the Bruins goalie who is sitting out the season to be with his family.

In exchange, the Islanders gave up a conditional second-round draft choice in 2014 or 2015. But it is unlikely that Thomas will ever play for the Isles.

The trade works perfectly for both teams as a strictly administrative maneuver.

“We have acquired an asset for our organization,” General Manager Garth Snow said in an official news release. “This acquisition allows us flexibility with our roster moving forward.”

Snow said before Thursday’s game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden that he was not sure if Thomas, who is in the last year of his contract, would play for the Islanders.

“He’s an asset we traded for that does gives us flexibility,” Snow said. He added that he had spoken briefly with Thomas on Thursday, and that he believed Thomas had not been skating while taking his year off in Colorado.

By getting Thomas and his $5 million salary, the Islanders rose comfortably above the salary floor in time to comply with N.H.L. payroll rules. The Bruins, meanwhile, were near the salary ceiling. By dealing away Thomas, they gained $5 million worth of maneuverability to acquire new players.

The Islanders rose just above the salary floor of $44 million on Thursday morning when they activated defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who had been playing in his native Slovakia to deal with family issues but who returned to Long Island to join the Isles.

But it was unclear if the paperwork would be finished in time for the Friday compliance deadline.

However, with both players signed, the Islanders were roughly $9 million above the floor.

Thomas, 38, won the Vezina Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2011 after leading the Bruins to the Stanley Cup, the apex of an unlikely, slowly building career that took him from Europe and the minor leagues to N.H.L. superstardom at a late age.

He declined an invitation to visit the White House with the rest of the Bruins, citing his Tea Party-tinged beliefs that the federal government had become too powerful. That, and other conservative stances, led to controversy, and he announced at the end of last season that he would spend this season in Colorado Springs to be with his family.

That locale is also the home of the United States Olympic team, for which he was backup goalie in 2010 and which he hopes to join again in 2014.