On Saturday, New York Islanders’ general manager Mathieu Darche publicly stated that an extension for Anders Lee will not come before the season.
"I said to him, ‘Let’s start the year and see where it goes,’" Darche told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. “There’s no urgency on his side, on my side. He’s the captain of our team, and I really like the individual. But I’m new to the team, right? There’s no one that’s on an expiring deal, that has one year left, that I’ve re-signed. It’s not because I don’t want to; I had enough on my plate this summer. I’ve got a great relationship with Anders.”
The admission from Darche made one thing clear: there’s no one set path for how the first-year general manager is going to handle the team going forward.
Despite no extension in Lee’s hand now or before the start of the season, the captain, since 2018, has made zero indication that he has interest in playing anywhere else. He’s got a young family on Long Island and has only donned the Blue & Orange since breaking into the league back in 2012-13.
That doesn’t mean teams won’t be calling the Islanders ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline on March 6, especially if the now 35-year-old is able to mimic his 2024-25 season, where he recorded 29 goals with a career-high 25 assists and 54 points.
Because of Lee’s age, he’s eligible for a contract for players 35 and older. We broke that down on Saturday:
The question is, if Lee is remaining on the Islanders following this upcoming season, what could his next contract look like?
Stefen Rosner & Russell Macias contributed to this story.
Look no further than Kyle Palmieri’s two-year deal worth $9.5 million ($4.75 million annually), which he signed back on May 30.
The now 34-year-old is about as perfect of a comparable as you can get. In the last two seasons, Palmieri has recorded 54 goals and 102 points. Lee posted 49 goals and 91 points in the same time span, playing just one fewer game.
Now, you may be thinking the following: Palmieri was on an expiring deal worth $5 million annually, taking a $250,000 pay cut, while Lee would be taking a $2.25 million discount. Seems excessive, especially if he performs to the level we just saw.
Palmieri’s deal ($4.75M AAV) for this season is worth roughly 4.97% of the Islanders’ cap. If Lee signs the same deal, he’ll be locked in at around 4.56% of the cap, or, under the current $95.5 million ceiling, $4.36 million.
But does Lee need to sign a multi-year deal? As mentioned in our contract breakdown, if Lee signs a one-year deal, he will be eligible for performance bonuses.
The NHL’s salary cap for the 2026-27 season is projected to be $104 million, with the Islanders having $75.8 million worth of deals on the books for that season. That doesn’t include the contracts of 2025 No. 1 overall pick D Matthew Schaefer ($975,000), F Calum Ritchie ($918,333), or D Isaiah George ($838,333), who are currently not listed on the Islanders’ roster, per PuckPedia.
Outside of Lee, the Islanders will also have to make decisions on pending unrestricted free agents F Jean-Gabriel Pageau, D Tony DeAngelo, and G David Rittich, and restricted free agents F Maxim Shabanov, F Marc Gatcomb, and D Adam Boqvist.
The Islanders will have money to fit Lee in, and unlike the Brock Nelson situation, there isn’t an expectation that money and term will be a tremendous obstacle in getting a deal done.
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