The NHL season will be starting in less than a month and loads of things have happened in this off season. There were many trades, free agency signings, extensions, re-signs, and an expansion draft also took place in this off season. With three teams being within New York a lot has happened during this offseason that people are talking about.
The New York Islanders did some great things this offseason. The Islanders re-signed players such as 24 year old forward, Anthony Beauvillier, 30 year old forward, Kyle Palmieri, and 26 year old goaltender, Ilya Sorokin. Beauvillier signed a three year contract for 4.15 million a year. Kyle signed a four year contract for 5 million a year while Sorokin signed a three year contract for 4 million a year. 30 year old forward, Casey Cizikas and 27 year old defenseman, Pelech also signed long term contracts during this off season with the Islanders.
Cizikas signed a contract of six years for 2.5 million a year and Pelech signed an eight year contract for 5.75 million a year. Lou Lamoriello also signed 37 year old forward Zach Parise. He previously played for the Minnesota Wild and prior to the Wild he played for the New Jersey Devils, the same team Lou Lamoriello used to be general manager of. Parise is signed for one year and the amount that he is making is not announced.
Even though the Islanders traded their 2021 first round pick to the New Jersey Devils, people believe their second round pick was a steal. At the 52nd pick overall the Islanders picked Aatu Raty who was actually seen to go somewhere in the first round but the Islanders ended up with a hopeful steal. Along with some additions and contracts the Islanders also lost some players this off season.
The Islanders traded 30 year old defenseman, Nick Leddy, to the Detroit Red wings for 30 year old Richard Panik and the 52nd pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. The Islanders also lost Jordan Eberle in the 2021 Expansion Draft so he will now be playing with the Seattle Kraken this year in the franchises first season in the NHL.
The Islanders also made a bizarre trade with the Arizona Coyotes. They traded 35 year old left wing Andrew Ladd, a 2nd round pick in 2021, a conditional 2nd round pick in 2022, and a conditional 3rd round pick in 2023 for nothing in return. The Islanders gave a bundle of picks and a player to the Yotes for nothing. The Islanders did some interesting things this off season and we are soon going to see if any of these decisions will be helpful to this team.
New York Rangers management has also made some adjustments to their team this off season too. The Rangers hired a new coach, Gerard Gallant, who is a very well known coach and will possibly be a good fit with the team. He coached the Vegas Golden Knights for three years before getting fired even though they were a fairly good team.
The Rangers traded a 2022 third round pick for Golden Knights right wing Ryan Reaves. Ryan Reaves is 6’1 and 225 pounds. He will be a good asset to the Rangers’ physicality. He is 34 years old and could have a possible leadership role on this team. There is no named captain for the Rangers as of right now but they are said to name one soon.
They also signed Filip Chytil to a two year contract of 2.3 million per year. Filip was a first round pick for the Rangers in 2017. The Rangers also acquired two-time Stanley Cup winning Barclay Goodrow for a 7th round pick in the 2022 draft. This trade happened mid- July and Goodrow became a free agent at the end of July so if he did not sign with the Rangers this trade could have possibly happened for no reason but he did end up signing with the Rangers. He signed a six year contract and his contract will carry an annual cap hit of $3.6 million over the time of deal.
Goodrow along with Reaves could help in the gritty area of the Rangers which is not overly present at the moment. The Rangers bought out controversial defenseman, Tony DeAngelo. He was then signed shockingly by the Carolina Hurricanes. Another player the Rangers lost this offseason was Colin Blackwell. He was selected by the Seattle Kraken in this year’s Expansion Draft. The Rangers seemed to have made some pretty good moves this offseason and with the season starting up soon we will see if any of the actions help their team.
With many of the interesting moves made this offseason we are soon going to see how they will unfold for these New York teams. The Islanders have their first regular season game on Thursday, October 14th, at 7pm against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Rangers have their first game Wednesday, October 13th, at 7:30pm against the Washington Capitals. As the season begins we will see just how much their offseasons were effective.