Anders Lee’s Role and the team outlook for Next season. 2026/2027

[SI90]

I know we’re not at the offseason but I wanted to bring this up and get the discussion started. One thing I keep coming back to when looking at the team next season is what exactly Lee’s future with this team looks like.

With the addition of Brayden Schenn (who will still have two years left after this season) and the decision to re-sign Pageau, there really aren’t many forward spots opening up. At the same time, Lee is currently making $7M AAV, and we all know damn well he isn’t getting that on his next contract.

The question I have is does he even get another contract from the Islanders at all?

Right now, Lee is the only pending UFA forward on the roster.Shabanov and Gatcomb are RFAs.

If you mock up a lineup for next year, the forward group looks something like this:

Palat – Horvat – Barzal


Holmstrom – Schenn – Palmieri


Heineman – Pageau – Ritchie


Engvall – Cizikas – Duclair


Extra: MacLean


And honestly… this lineup doesn’t exactly excite me. There are also some contract questions that could change things:

-Could Darche find a way to move Duclair ($3.5M AAV, 2 more years after this season)?
-Could Engvall ($3M AAV, 4 more years) be moved
-palat at $6M AAV could technically be a buyout candidate to create cap space.

I can’t stand Engvall and if we can’t move him, I’d bury him in the AHL. Same with Duclair, but I think declare we could move. We clearly still need another scoring winger, and the bottom6 especially the 4th line needs improvement.

I still think Casey Cizikas is a very good 4th-line center, and $2.5M for one more year is perfectly reasonable for that role. But getting back to Lee.
If he were to stay, it would almost certainly have to be at a significant pay cut. The question is whether he even fits anymore. I’m not sure he’s really a bottom6 type of player, stylistically. He’s always been more of a net front top six presence. he’s not really a fore checker or a defensive forward type that brings energy with physical play.

So would it really make sense to bring him back in a reduced role? A role that he probably doesn’t even fit?
Personally, I’m starting to think he probably finishes his hockey career elsewhere. A team like Minnesota on a cheaper short term deal wouldn’t surprise me.If Lee does move on, I also think Horvat should be the next captain.

As for the rest of the roster:

Defense- Soucy and DeAngelo are UFAs. With Romanov returning, the Islanders probably only need to fill one top6 defensive spot, ideally with a right handed defenseman.

Goalies- Rittich is a UFA, and Varlamov still has a year left, but his situation is a bit uncertain right now. Who the hell even knows if he’ll play again. Could use his cap off the books.

Overall, when I look at the projected forward group, it feels like Darche has a lot of work to do this summer. I don’t think this current group is good enough to roll into next season as is. So I’m curious what everyone else thinks.

- Do you bring Anders Lee back on a cheaper deal, or let him walk?
- If he stays, what role does he realistically play.
- can we even move Engvall and/or Dukes contracts without major sweetener
- And where do you think this roster most needs to improve?

Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.

 

[SI90]

Linking Puckpedia if anyone is interested.

https://puckpedia.com/team/new-york-islanders

 

[JRD76]

I don’t know if you have seen Darche’s press conference today but the way he talked about Lee, it seemed like he isn’t extending Lee, for now anyway. Maybe over the summer they agree on a super cheap deal.

 

[Zeeker]

As others have said, I’ll believe that Darche can move on from a 35+ year old when shovels are in the ground.

Until then, he’s done virtually nothing but embrace our aging elders

 

[SI90]

I don’t know if you have seen Darche’s press conference today but the way he talked about Lee, it seemed like he isn’t extending Lee, for now anyway. Maybe over the summer they agree on a super cheap deal.

He talked about him with great respect and the way he explained it actually made sense. Without saying he didn’t wanna give Pageau a boatload of money. He basically was saying the Center market for this summer looks like there’s gonna be a lot of competition for centers and he didn’t want Pageau to get priced out so he got the deal done now for a good cap hit while there was no competition for Pageau. The organization loves Lee but that has nothing to do with his role and what he can provide moving forward. The question remains. Does he have a role next year on this team and can we even fit him at this point?

 

[doublechili]

Kudos for bringing this up. I had the same thought and started to type a post but stopped.

Schenn was captain of StL and can fill a lot of what Lee would do. It at least opens the possibility of Lee not returning. We'll see.

I've raised the point a lot through the years. Lee seems like a great guy and captain, but the fact remains that the team has come up small at the worst possible times through multiple administrations/coaching staffs. The past two games have been typical - create a little bit of space, and then let up on the gas. They seem to have a WC2 mentality. Maybe time to move on.

 

[Kevin27nyi]

Buy out Engvall, 1 million cap hit. That's a nothing burger with a 104 cap. Trade Shabby for a 6th. Trade or buyout Duclair. It's a 1.167 cap hit. Put Lee on line 4 next to Cizikas and put Heineman or Palat on the other side.

If you sign Soucy and TDA to 1 year deals for 2 million I think you'd have 10-12 million to add an impact forward. Throw it all at Tuch. That's assuming you have Varly back. If he's not, put him on IR and keep Big Save Dave.

 

[SI90]

Buy out Engvall, 1 million cap hit. That's a nothing burger with a 104 cap. Trade Shabby for a 6th. Trade or buyout Duclair. It's a 1.167 cap hit. Put Lee on line 4 next to Cizikas and put Heineman or Palat on the other side.

If you sign Soucy and TDA to 1 year deals for 2 million I think you'd have 10-12 million to add an impact forward. Throw it all at Tuch. That's assuming you have Varly back. If he's not, put him on IR and keep Big Save Dave.

Wow. I didn’t realize Engvslls buyout was only $1mil. But it would be for 8 years right? That’s tough but if we get desperate it’s not the end of the world.

 

[Kevin27nyi]

Wow. I didn’t realize Engvslls buyout was only $1mil. But it would be for 8 years right? That’s tough but if we get desperate it’s not the end of the world.

I just think the cap is too large at this point to have issues buying guys out. Even burying guys isn't bad.

But just let them go and free them to the world.

 

[Throttle]

Lee gets Benn’d.

 

[MarsTBOW]

Lee gets Benn’d.

Maybe so.....

 

[MarsTBOW]

Buy out Engvall, 1 million cap hit. That's a nothing burger with a 104 cap. Trade Shabby for a 6th. Trade or buyout Duclair. It's a 1.167 cap hit. Put Lee on line 4 next to Cizikas and put Heineman or Palat on the other side.

If you sign Soucy and TDA to 1 year deals for 2 million I think you'd have 10-12 million to add an impact forward. Throw it all at Tuch. That's assuming you have Varly back. If he's not, put him on IR and keep Big Save Dave.

Lee has never been much of a Checker or Defensive type of guy, too slow for any energy a 4th line guy can do with hitting.
He parks himself in front of the net, that's not useful for a 4th line guy.
I think he is Minnesota bound....

 

[Throttle]

Maybe so.....

Darche acquired two guys here with Cup experience and one was a captain. Now, the Isles have Horvat and Schenn as former Captains.

Since there’s no extension for Lee, isles are honoring his contract and will evaluate in the offseason. However, could be a Stamkos situation that Darche is familiar with: take the emotion out of it, here’s our offer, if you want more or can get more, then go for it.

The polite way of saying it’s time to move on.

 

[Islander Prophet]

So looking at next year with Lee, Soucy and DeAngelo coming off the books I see it will leave us with around 8 million of cap space..

With Romanov coming back, Im cautiously confident that our D can hold up nicely in the top 4 with Schaefer/Romanov Pelech/Pulock and then whether we like it or not Mayfield will be as #6 guy and hopefully George (or even Aitcheson if we’re really lucky) is ready to make the step at NHL level and won’t cost us anything beyond minimum ELC

We still have world class Sorokin in net

And now it comes down to the forwards.. with that cap space (and maybe a bit more if we can somehow trade away Duclair for example) we could have room to add a pretty solid REAL top line player.. if I leave a roster hole for that player we have something that looks like

Barzal/Horvat/ +?
Palmieri/Schenn/Holmstrom
Heineman/Pageau/Ritchie
Engvall/Cizikas/Palat

First line would look great if we get a legit top line star player.. Second line looks a bit weak in my opinion but 3rd and 4th lines look really strong for depth. Overall I still think this team is quite solid and can make a deep run, pending Schaefer keeps improving, the older players dont regress, Sorokin stays top-class and we lock up that top line star player

 

[islesfan3913]

I don’t see Engvall ever playing another game for us. I could see a buyout happening, but as cold as it may sound I’d rather just bury him in the minors. His $3 million cap hit becomes a $1.8 million cap hit if we do that and his contract has four years remaining. With a buyout, his cap hit would only be $800k less at $1 million but he’d be on the books for eight years. It just doesn’t make sense to me to add up four more years of a cap hit over what is essentially the cost of an ELC.

As for Lee, I thought Darche’s comments after the trade and JGP’s extension were interesting. It doesn’t seem like there’s any urgency for a Lee extension at all and I felt that Darche was very subtly hinting that it may not happen at all. Ultimately though, I do think Lee is brought back on a two year deal and I can see him slotting into the 3LW spot. We’ll have some flexibility with the roster new season so I don’t think it’ll be an issue to get him into the lineup even if there’d have to be some shuffling around. Could possibly look something like this:

Heineman-Horvat-Barzal
Holmstrom-Schenn-Palmieri
Lee-Pageau-Ritchie
MacLean-Cizikas-Palat
Duclair/Gatcomb

Alternatively, if Ritchie steps up next season and proves he can be a 2C, it wouldn’t shock me at all if we moved Schenn to LW and tried him out on the first line. This would actually be my preferred lineup:

Schenn-Horvat-Barzal
Heineman-Ritchie-Palmieri
Lee-Pageau-Holmstrom
MacLean-Cizikas-Palat
Duclair/Gatcomb

There’s also the possibility of Palmieri playing his off wing and getting the 1LW spot with Horvat and Barzal while Ritchie shifts to 2RW with Schenn at 2C. That would be my preferred lineup if the team wants Schenn at center. Also Lee could always slot in at 4LW while Palat moves to 3LW and Gatcomb at 4RW while MacLean is a scratch (if Gatcomb is brought back, I think we’ll likely see a revolving door with Gatcomb, MacLean, Duclair, and Palat).

I think Darche knows fitting Lee onto this team will be a bit awkward and require some creative lineups, but like I said earlier I do believe he’ll be back because him being the captain combined with his long tenure with the team and him being well liked in the locker room will win out in the end. It also seems like Darche wants to give this group one more legit chance after this season and I think Lee will very much be included in that group.

 

[Throttle]

Shabanov probably terminates his contract and returns to Russia.

Duclair will have the offseason to find another home - he may be bought out, if he can’t. Downright awful signing by Lou. Zito gave him 3 years and dumped him after their failed Cup run. Red flag dumbo Lou.

Engvall I doubt he ever sees and Isles uniform. Bought out or he’s part of a ‘cap transfer’ trade for a lotto team just looking for a body/cap.

One of McLean/Gatcomb will be moved on from.

Palat’s career is on the line in the playoffs. He has a healthy cap hit that could be attractive for a cap floorish team, if he doesn’t contribute in the playoffs.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I assumed Pageau would not be staying.

I had assumed up to now that Lee would be re-upped for another 2 years at 3 million per.

I'm batting 0-fer-1 right now.

 

[PhysicalGraffiti]

I'd say it's all but certain Lee is gone.

Now does it improve the team? If we didn't acquire another older slower player, I'd say there's a chance someone can fill the role. With Benn swapping in for him, I see it more as a lateral move in terms of money and ability.

I don't know how we're gonna dump duclair and Engvall, but with those two contracts and the high cost of Palat and Benn for next year, we could really use some youth and speed. A lot of the lineups above don't inspire much hope.

I am looking forward to getting Palms back though. Though he also is of the older and slower group, he was playing really well last year and think he has something left in the tank. I'd say give him the C when Lee is gone.

For D, I'd bring TDA back again. He's played well this season and no reason to think he wouldn't keep up this pace next year.

 

[Strummergas]

I don’t know if you have seen Darche’s press conference today but the way he talked about Lee, it seemed like he isn’t extending Lee, for now anyway. Maybe over the summer they agree on a super cheap deal.

I got a similar impression; that an extension is not a foregone conclusion. That's not to say that it won't happen, but that it's not set in stone. Unless of course, Lee is willing to be flexible in his salary demands based on any other moves that are made during the offseason whether they be additions or subtractions.

 

[IslesNorway]

Let Lee walk and buy out the rest. No offers for Soucy and Shabanov. Trade Cizikas at the draft.

 

[Glory Days]

Darche has a lot to do this off season. He should start by letting Lee walk. Lee may decide to retire and take a job with the Isles. I could see that happening

 

[SCMURRAY]

I actually think Darche will bring Lee back. Something with a lower cap hit with bonuses on a 1 year deal. Spend most of his time on the 3rd line and 2nd PP unit.

Currently there's 19 roster players with $15.2 mill in cap space.
I think Engvall is bought out or waived. The ball will be in Shabs court whether is jumps back to Russia or his rights are traded for more playing time. Duke has a 16 team NTC so its a little easier to move him but his value is low. Never should've gotten a 4 year deal.
I think Varly's career is over. He'll be LTIR for next season as well. Big save Dave re-signed.
Tony D brought back unless they revisit Nemec or can land a guy like Andersson

Isles still need a top 6 wing.

 

[boredmale]

Wow. I didn’t realize Engvslls buyout was only $1mil. But it would be for 8 years right? That’s tough but if we get desperate it’s not the end of the world.

At the end of the day is it really owrth buying him out. We can bury like 1.2M of the 3.5M in the minors and that number will only go higher when the cap goes up). Who knows maybe he goes on injury reserve again permanently

 

[Zeeker]

I am looking forward to getting Palms back though. Though he also is of the older and slower group, he was playing really well last year and think he has something left in the tank. I'd say give him the C when Lee is gone.

This is an interesting take.

If Lee leaves, I’d be willing to bet a sizable amount of money that it’s someone other than Palmieri who gets made captain.

 

[Big L]

This is an interesting take.

If Lee leaves, I’d be willing to bet a sizable amount of money that it’s someone other than Palmieri who gets made captain.

I’m in on that bet as well.

Horv would be the next C