Close To Landing A Big Fish, Isles Stay Disciplined In Free Agency
Islanders GM Mathieu Darche added Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Shabanov, positioned the team for flexibility, and nearly landed Brock Boeser.
The New York Islanders had needs entering free agency, and first-time general manager Mathieu Darche did his best to fill the holes.
He brought in forward Jonathan Drouin on a two-year deal worth $4 million annually and won the Maxim Shabanov sweepstakes, signing the KHL star to his one-year entry-level deal worth $950,000.
Darche also made sure to bolster his depth, signing a few forwards to two-way deals while also bringing in Mathew Barzal’s good friend, right-side defenseman Ethan Bear.
With a healthy Barzal and Anthony Duclair, along with players like Simon Holmstrom and Maxim Tsyplakov taking strides, the Islanders should be better than they were this past season.
How much better?
Well, that depends on a myriad of things, but there’s no question that the Islanders should be able to qualify for the playoffs—whether as a wild-card team or in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Because of the need to retain a list of RFAs, while also not handcuffing themselves financially or roster spot-wise with a few prospects potentially coming to the organization over the next two to three seasons, Darche did not see a need to go long-term—outside of Alexander Romanov, who signed an eight-year extension worth $6.25 million annually.
Here’s what Darche said following day one of NHL Free Agency:
“You have to stay disciplined in what you do. Just because you have the cap space, you don't have to spend it all if you don't feel it's an appropriate way to spend your money.
Whenever I sign guys, I look at the cap. I'm always looking two to three years ahead also, to make sure that we don't... Sometimes I might feel I have great cap space one year, and then you have three guys the next year coming out of entry-level deals, and their salaries go up. And then, maybe you don't care about this year, but next year, you handcuff yourself. So there's a little planning like that we have to do.
I didn't go into the big term... A lot of the term guys actually re-signed with their team. You've noticed the last few days. So, just like we did with Alexander Romanov, we're really excited to have a 25-year-old signing an eight-year deal with us. So we're getting his prime years of his career with us.
I think you saw a lot of teams do that with their players. Sometimes, at this time of year, when there's more cap space than teams have been accustomed to in the last few years, people might want to push for a higher cap number on some players. That's where you have to stay disciplined, and that's when you have to make sure that you do your research, you know what the value of the player is, and make sure you don't overpay—because one contract might not hurt you now, but might hurt you later.”
Because of the multiple timelines that Darche is on—the first being Barzal, Horvat, and Sorokin, and the second being Schaefer, Eiserman, and the other prospects—it was probably not in the Islanders’ best interest to go big-game hunting this summer.
However, Darche did say that if he could make his team better, he would—and he did.
Having the confidence to be able to land the big fish is incredibly important for a franchise that has struggled mightily to do so.
Yes, Shabanov could turn out to be a critical acquisition, but according to multiple sources, the Islanders were close to landing Brock Boeser—had the 28-year-old right winger truly wanted to leave Vancouver.