The New York Islanders today signed restricted free agent goaltender Jakub Skarek to a two-year, two-way contract, per a team release. Skarek’s new deal carries a $775K cap hit with the following breakdown, per the New York Post’s Ethan Sears:
2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $85K minors salary, $100K minimum guaranteed salary
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $105K minors salary, $135K minimum guaranteed salary
After signing Oliver Wahlstrom to a deal equivalent to his qualifying offer yesterday, the Islanders have re-signed all of their restricted free agents this offseason.
Skarek, 23, sits third on the team’s goalie depth chart behind Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. He’s expected to take on a slightly more significant role in the minors next season with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, as they haven’t retained veteran netminder Cory Schneider, who split starts with Skarek last season, for 2023-24.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound netminder has shown good flashes of play for Bridgeport, but he’s been inconsistent throughout his time there. He’s yet to record above a .900 save percentage in his four seasons in the minors.
Drafted by the Islanders in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Skarek’s accumulated a 37-49-10 record, a 3.34 goals-against-average, a .893 save percentage and four shutouts in 103 career games with Bridgeport. Next season, he projects to be the team’s first call-up option if Sorokin or Valramov goes down with an injury or is otherwise unavailable.