Welcome back to Around the League, a column where we look at NHL news through a Canucks-tinged lens.
After signing the exact same number of unrestricted free agents as the Atlanta Thrashers did this offseason, we finally have some news from Long Island.
The Islanders announced three RFA signings today, the club’s first three moves since the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Signatures of Three Islands
Announced within minutes of each other, the Islanders re-signed Noah Dobson, Kiefer Bellows and Alex Romanov.
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Bellows, who is coming off his best offensive season with six goals, 13 assists and 19 points in 45 games, signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract.
Romanov was signed to a three-year, $2.5 million cap contract. The Islanders acquired Romanov from the Montreal Canadiens in the draft, just minutes after a deal with the Canucks was supposed to fall through.
As for the Dobson contract, the Islanders appear to have gotten a steal here. The club was able to re-sign the 22-year-old defender to a three-year contract, reportedly worth $4 million per season.
The 6’4 Summerside, PEI product plays a premium position as a right-handed defenseman and is coming off a season in which he had 13 goals and 38 assists while logging big minutes for New York.
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It’s a clean slate for the Islanders, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone questioning the other two RFA deals the club signed on Monday morning.
What remains unanswered — even after GM Lou Lamoriello’s media presence today — is the Islanders’ frontcourt, which remains unchanged from last season when the Islanders finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division and missed the playoffs.
Miller sized hole
The Islanders were the favorite to sign Nazem Kadri, but the Calgary Flames made Kadri take his talent north of the border for the next seven years.
That leaves a hole in the Islanders lineup.
One might even call it a JT Miller sized hole.
Like Kadri, Miller is versatile and is rumored to be a player the Islanders are interested in. The Islanders’ supposed interest, plus the reported conversations between them and the Canucks at the Montreal draft, which ultimately amounted to nothing more than choice words , make Lamoriello’s comments today all the more interesting.
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“As we said at the end of last year, if we can upgrade any part of our lineup, we certainly will,” Lamoriello told reporters on Zoom today. “And like any other team in the National Hockey League, there’s constant communication to try to do that and we’ve looked at a lot of different options. Unfortunately, the options that we looked at, as I mentioned, to make hockey trades, we weren’t going to get in return for what we would have to give up to make us, in my opinion, a better team.
“I’m actually really excited about the squad we have right now going into the season, so I feel really good. But if we could get better, we would. It’s no different than this season, but that’s the price you have to pay to do something to upgrade at one position and what you do if the pros and cons don’t work, you’re really letting your whole team down .”
As it stands now, the Islanders lineup is projected to look like this, courtesy of the Daily Faceoff:
Does this look like a front group capable of locking up a playoff spot in the always competitive Metro Division?
Lou Lamoriello seems to think so.
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It was a down year from Matt Barzal, but he and Brock Nelson — who had a career year at age 30 — tied for the team lead in points with 59. Behind them was the aforementioned guard Noah Dobson. That’s just not enough support from your top players to win in the NHL, no matter how well your team defends.
This team certainly looks like the type that would benefit from adding a 99 point Swiss Army Knife type player like Miller who can not only produce at 5-on-5 but also contribute effectively on both special teams .
One would assume the Canucks would ask about Dobson in any Miller deal involving the Islanders, but with the premium we’ve seen teams pay this offseason for solid right-handed defensive help, it was never going to happen and the comments of Lamoriello suggest that many.
The Canucks have struggled to find a trade partner willing to give up what the club believes Miller is worth to this point, but after losing the Kadri sweepstakes and with a better idea of their capital structure heading into the future , will the islanders come knocking?
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