Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Well, that was a different trade deadline experience.
As the clock struck 3 pm on Monday, the Islanders weren’t buyers or sellers (terms their GM hates) - they were extenders. Yes, all signs pointed towards the Islanders being quiet on Monday and bringing back UFAs Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck for next season, but the announcement of extensions was the swerve Lou Lamoriello has been known for throughout decades as a hockey executive. It was an unconventional gamble and a doubling-down on his veteran roster.
Lamoriello emphasized to fans that they shouldn’t view standing pat as him being satisfied as a harsh and honest evaluation of the team is ongoing. With the turbulence that plagued the season subsiding, the GM plans to use the final 20+ games to provide clarity as to where this team is and what needs to be done heading into next season.
Coming up, we break down what the extensions and lack of trade activity means for the short and long term. Plus, Kyle Okposo scores his first NHL goal without a helmet and there’s nothing regular about Ilya Sorokin.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders announced contract extensions for both Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise. Clutterbuck's extension will run through the 2023-24 season, while Parise's extension is for one year. The 34-year-old Clutterbuck has been with the Isles since the 2013-14 season after spending his first six seasons with the Minnesota Wild and has been a mainstay on the team’s “Identity Line” for most of his tenure on the island.
“Honestly, I owe a lot to [Matt Martin] and Casey [Cizikas], who have been beside me for the majority of this time,” Clutterbuck said. “Long enough that I don’t really have any vivid memories of playing NHL hockey without either one of them or both of them.”
As for Parise, after scoring only once in his first 33 games with the Islanders, the 37-year-old has recorded seven goals and eight assists (15 points) over his last 27 games and has recently been playing alongside Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom.
“I was pretty confident that I’d be coming back,” Parise said, who revealed that he and the Islanders initially discussed a two-year deal last summer. “We chatted again about it last week. Just happy we were able to get it done.”
Why were Parise and Clutterbuck extended?
A few reasons. Management’s assessment is that this season is an aberration and the team is closer to a Stanley Cup contender than the team behind the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. The extensions are a sign to the team and fanbase that they believe the championship window is open for 1-2 more seasons with the core group.
“The players that we have here right now and the core players that we have and the people who are not having a good year, this will give them an opportunity to get back where they think they should be,” Lamoriello said. “But as far as the fans this is without question an indication to them that we believe in the group.”
The other side of this is that the Islanders did not want the burden of having to find players to fill the roles of Parise and Clutterbuck in the off-season. In their view, the moves do not change the Islanders’ mindset this summer or their ability to improve the roster moving due to their affordable cap figures.
What are the terms of the extensions?
◾️Cal Clutterbuck: 2 year / $3,500,000 extension $1,750,000 AAV All base salary and flat across both seasons. It also does not include any clauses.
◾️Zach Parise: Contract the same as this season. A one-year deal at $750,000 and potential for $750,000 in performance bonuses.
Could they have traded them and re-signed each in the off-season to the same deals?
Possibly. There was an obvious mutual desire for all parties to remain together. Could a handshake agreement have been made? Certainly, if nothing else Lou Lamoriello is a man of his word. A team saying goodbye to a player at the deadline doesn't have to say goodbye forever - just a few months. There are several examples of traded players returning to the team that traded them once hitting free agency:
◾️Patrick Marleau: Traded to Penguins, re-signed with Sharks
◾️Matt Moulson: Traded to Wild, re-signed with Sabres
◾️Doug Weight: Traded to Carolina (won Stanley Cup), re-signed with Blues
◾️Keith Tkachuk: Traded to Thrashers, re-signed with Blues
Understandably, fans were perplexed that the Islanders chose not to pursue any assets in return for their UFAs when they have been clear sellers for months. Rather than pursue a scenario that could’ve delivered the best of both worlds, Lou decided to play it safe and sign both players on the same day many thought they’d be moved.
Were they close to moving Semyon Varlamov?
Not really. Given the state of goaltending for playoff-bound teams (Edmonton, Toronto, and others), there was a belief that Semyon Varlamov could bring back the biggest haul for the Islanders. Further, with Ilya Sorokin trending towards a franchise No.1 goaltender, shedding Varlamov’s $5M cap space would be advantageous for the team heading into an off-season with multiple needs to address. Ultimately, Lamoriello did not want to turn a clear strength into a question mark.
“There's no question that Varly certainly got a lot of attention but he's very important to our team, said Lamoriello. He's very important to our goaltending. In my opinion, he’s very important to the growth and maturity of Ilya Sorokin.”
Why didn’t they trade Andy Greene or Zdeno Chara?
It’s debatable whether Greene or Chara would have garnered anything more than a late-round draft pick, but Lamoriello indicated he was not actively looking to trade either for likely minimal returns knowing the players' preference to stay with the team for the remainder of the season.
“There certainly was an expression that they wanted to remain here for the end of the season, which was an understanding when they came,” Lamoriello said. “Both felt that they made a commitment to this team, and unless I could get … a high-end asset that would make us much better, they would hope that that would (not) be looked at.”
How does this team get better?
Even if you consider this season a ‘blip,’ the Islanders can’t simply rely on ‘running it back’ with the same roster and expect to be a playoff team in an Eastern Conference that is likely to have eight 100 point teams make the playoffs. They need to get better. The question is how.
‘We will make whatever room we have to make,” Lamoriello said when asked about how the team’s cap situation is set up for the off-season. “I don’t think we’re going to get better by just adding a player,” Lamoriello said. “We’re going to have to get better by making hockey trades. That’s the only conversations we were having over the last several days. Can we make a hockey trade within our own team that will make us better tomorrow as well as today?”
The Islanders are projected to have ~$12M in cap space heading into the summer. That might sound like a lot, but RFA Noah Dobson is due a significant raise and the back-end of the blue-line needs to be addressed with Chara, Greene, and Sebastian Aho (Group 6) all UFAs. There is probably room for one significant free-agent signing, but to address their need for a top-line scorer and a puck-moving defenseman, Lamoriello & co. will need to show creativity and a willingness to part with a valuable piece or two to unload the necessary salary to facilitate such a move that would reshape the roster.
“We’re are where we’re at,” Lamoriello acknowledged during his media conference call. He’s betting that the team won’t be in the same place or predicament this time next year.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are home to take on the newly acquired Travis Hamonic and the Ottawa Senators at UBS Arena. Face-off is set for 7:30 pm.
📊 STANDINGS:
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Islander defense has 51 assists in the last 21 games after having 47 helpers in the first 39 games. The Islander defense has recorded 35.8% of the team's assists; that is the third-highest percentage in the NHL. Only Nashville (36.9%) and Detroit (35.9%) have a higher share of points from their defense.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On March 21, 2008, Kyle Okposo scored his first NHL goal -helmetless! The 19-year-old Okposo was called up earlier in the week from the minors and scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 2:35 remaining helping his new club beat Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in Newark. "Scoring a game-winning goal against one of the best goalies in history, that's not bad at all," Okposo said. "I don't know what could be better."
🎧 NHP: Episode 101 - Islanders Tradeline Edition: Jon and James dive into the New York Islanders and NHL trade deadline news, including general manager Lou Lamoriellos' press conference following the 3 pm deadline.
🎧 Islanders Forecheck 15: NY Acquire No Assets, Bring Back Clutterbuck and Parise, Look to Offseason with Chris Bott and Lou Pellegrino “Chris and Lou discussed the Islanders' lack of deals, the contract extensions for bottom-six veterans Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise, and why attention turns to Jakub Chychrun, Filip Forsberg, other unknowns, and hopes for the offseason.”
🔗 Islanders extend Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “Rather than trading away two potential trade pieces before the NHL’s deadline on Monday, the New York Islanders opted to extend them — upping the contracts of forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise.”
🔗 Islanders remain quiet at the deadline, but ‘hockey trades’ likely coming this offseason by Kevin Kurz, The Athletic “The trade deadline passed without a single swap, while veteran forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise were inked to two and one-year extensions, respectively, in what was the only news of the day from a team perspective.”
And we leave you with this…there is nothing regular about the regular season and there was nothing regular about Ilya Sorokin’s save at Madison Square Garden last Thursday night. The NHL released this promotional video featuring not only the save but also commentary from Mathew Barzal and Barry Trotz. It’s a pretty cool :18 seconds.
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