Islanders could pursue Flames high-scoring left wing Johnny Gaudreau
Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau carries the puck past Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat during the third period of an NHL game on Jan. 11, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
The Islanders built UBS Arena with its state-of-the art dressing rooms, workout facilities and overall amenities for both the home and visiting team, in part, to attract marquee free agents.
They have an aging roster in need of scoring and defense help that’s supposed to win now, and was close in both 2020 and 2021, before missing the playoffs last season.
So there’s every reason to think the Islanders will go big-name shopping when the free agent market opens Wednesday at noon, even if it heavily taxes the team’s salary cap situation in the short and long term.
And the biggest name could be Johnny Gaudreau.
The Flames spent Tuesday still trying to re-sign their electrifying left wing, who set career highs last season with 40 goals and 75 assists and was the NHL's top plus/minus player at plus-64, but he ultimately informed the organization he would test the market. He will be 29 when next season starts and the Islanders would almost certainly have to offer a seven-year deal worth $10 million (or more) annually.
While Johnny Hockey has expressed how much he enjoys playing in Calgary, he’s originally from Salem, New Jersey, and grew up a Flyers’ fan. That has led to strong industry speculation that the Flyers, Devils and Islanders could all be a potential destination.
However, the Flyers have just approximately $3.5 million in cap space and would likely have to jettison the final season of James van Riemsdyk’s $7 million cap hit to fit Gaudreau. The Devils have approximately $27 million in cap space, young centers Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier and defenseman Dougie Hamilton, Gaudreau’s former Flames’ teammate. However, they’ve missed the playoffs the past four seasons and have qualified just once since 2012.
Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello would certainly seem to have the motivation to go hard after Gaudreau. The Islanders ranked 24th in the NHL with 231 goals scored and 19th with a minus-6 goal differential. Plus, finding a suitable linemate to maximize center Mathew Barzal’s unique skills would seem a must.
Remember, Lamoriello went hard after Artemi Panarin as an unrestricted free agent in 2019, actually offering more than the seven-year, $81.5 million deal he eventually signed with the rival Rangers.
There may be some fallback positions if Gaudreau goes elsewhere.
The Stanley Cup-champion Avalanche may not be able to afford to retain left wing Andre Burakovsky after re-signing Valeri Nichushkin to an eight-year, $49 million deal. Burakovsky, 27, set career highs with 22 goals and 39 assists last season and is coming off a two-year, $9.8 million deal.
Left wing Ondrej Palat, 31, will apparently test free agency after nine seasons and two Cups with the Lightning. He had 18 goals and 31 assists last season as he completed a five-year, $26.5 million deal.
Of course, any pricey free agent Lamoriello might bring in would likely force him into shedding other salary.
Left wing Anthony Beauvillier has two seasons remaining on his three-year, $12.45 million deal, one which does not include any no-trade or no-movement clauses. Lamoriello expressed his reluctance to deal goalie Semyon Varlamov, who has one season remaining on his four-year, $20 million deal.
Lamoriello’s in-house priorities are new deals for restricted free agent defensemen Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, acquired from the Canadiens for the 13th overall pick in last week’s NHL Draft. The two could combine to take up $6-9 million in cap space.
Barzal will need a new deal as well as he enters the last season of his three-year, $21 million deal. He can be an RFA with arbitration rights next offseason.
Lamoriello said before acquiring Romanov the Islanders could use two defensemen so that may be a Wednesday shopping item as well.
Isles’ potential free-agent targets:
LW Johnny Gaudreau (Flames) – Would provide desperately needed scoring, but his great cost ($10 million-plus annually) would have a long-term impact on roster
RW Phil Kessel (Coyotes) – He may still have some goals left on his stick at 34 and could conceivably come at a cut rate.
D Nick Leddy (Blues) – He was an effective Islander for seven seasons before Lou Lamoriello moved him to alleviate a salary-cap crunch. He can still skate well and would come much cheaper this time.
LW Andre Burakovsky (Avalanche) – He’s just 27 and coming off career highs with 22 goals and 39 assists for the Stanley Cup winners. He could be a good alternative if Gaudreau is unavailable
LW Ondrej Palat (Lightning) – He’d bring a winning pedigree as a two-time Cup winner and some scoring, though he is 31 and likely looking for around $6 million annually
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.
