The New York Islanders have signed Adam Boqvist to a one-year contract worth $850,000 for the 2025-26 season, and with that, the right side of the defense got all the more crowded.
In addition to Boqvist, the Islanders have restricted free agent Noah Dobson, followed by Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield, who have signed contracts until 2030.
Unrestricted free agent Tony DeAngelo is also an option, given his prominent role since his Islanders debut on Jan. 25 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He is still in need of a contract.
While an easy solution could be to move one of the aforementioned blue liners to the left side, the Islanders already have a surplus of left-handed defensemen in Adam Pelech, Alexander Romanov, Scott Perunovich, Mike Reilly, and Isaiah George.
So, one of the right-shot defensemen could be on the outs.
Dobson has been rumored to have interest from other teams as a trade chip, but his dominant 2023-24 campaign and regression in 2024-25 would result in the Islanders selling low on the 25-year-old.
The belief is that the Islanders and Dobson will reach a contract agreement and that trading Dobson is unlikely to happen.
Pulock, whose contract carries a $6.15 million annually, and Mayfield’s, coming in at $3.5 million annually, have similar impacts, which could make one of the two expendable. But their full NTCs until July 1, 2027, make trade impossible unless they waive the restriction.
Because of the AAV and Mayfield finding himself as a healthy scratch often after the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break, he’s more likely to waive if he isn’t going to be a starter in 2025-26.
The Islanders could let DeAngelo walk and use Boqvist as a depth option, but this would be doubling down on a defense group that has had its fair share of struggles in recent seasons.
While Mathieu Darche is just a week into his tenure as the Islanders' GM, he now has to continue piecing together this puzzle as the draft and free agency near.
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Stefen Rosner contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images