The Islanders have now re-signed the last of their unsigned defensemen as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Travis Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Mitchell $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and has a guaranteed salary of $125K.
The 25-year-old joined New York in 2023, signing an entry-level contract as an unrestricted free agent. That came on the heels of a solid NCAA showing with Cornell, including a 19-point senior season in 2022-23.
Mitchell joined AHL Bridgeport soon after leaving, getting into a handful of games with them to start his professional career. He also has spent the last two seasons in the minors with Bridgeport and is coming off a 2024-25 effort that saw him record 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 65 games.
Mitchell will be waiver-eligible for the first time this coming season but it’s likely that he won’t be claimed, allowing him to continue his development with Bridgeport under new head coach Rocky Thompson, a former blueliner himself. Mitchell will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.
With this agreement, the Islanders are down to one remaining RFA to re-sign, winger Maxim Tsyplakov. He was among the list of 11 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month with hearings set to run between July 20th and August 4th. The hearing schedule is yet to be released so it’s unclear exactly how much time GM Mathieu Darche has to try to get the 26-year-old signed without needing to have the salary decided by an arbitrator.