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Islanders Sign David Rittich, Ethan Bear

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The Islanders are inking free agent goaltender David Rittich to a deal, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports. The team announced it’s a one-year deal, although financial terms weren’t disclosed. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports it’s worth around $1MM. They’ve also signed defenseman Ethan Bear to a two-way deal with a $425K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

Rittich will join the Islanders as an insurance bet for veteran goalie Semyon Varlamov, who missed the bulk of the 2024-25 season due to a long-term, knee injury. Varlamov underwent surgery to address the issue in December, and has been rehabbing with a return in mind ever since. He wasn’t able to return in time for the end of the season, but has affirmed that he’ll be ready for training camp at the end of the summer.

Should Varlamov need additional time, the Islanders will be able to lean on Rittich to back up the heavy workload of Ilya Sorokin. Rittich spent the last two seasons backing up Cam Talbot and Darcy Kuemper with the Los Angeles Kings. He was tasked with stepping into 24 games of the 2023-24 season, then climbed to 34 games last year as Kuemper battled through injury. He found an interesting balance over two seasons in L.A., managing a stout .921 save percentage in his first year but a dismal .886 save percentage this season. His record fell positive in both seasons, ultimately totaling at 29-20-5 in 58 games.

The backup role in Los Angeles brought Rittich through his ninth season, and 230th game, in the NHL. He has appeared in stretches with the Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maple Leafs in that span. In total, Rittich has amassed a .904 save percentage and 204-108-71 record. He’ll be a cheap third-string option that should help New York mitigate their trend of injury-riddled seasons.

The Islanders will also add Bear as an important piece of depth. The 28-year-old defenseman spent the entirety of the 2024-25 season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, where he stood out as one of the best defenders across the minor leagues. He finished the season with 10 goals, 46 points, 30 penalty minutes, and a plus-33 through 62 games. That was enough to finish eighth among AHL defenders in points, and second in plus-minus. Bear struggled to find a hardy role through tenures with the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, or Washington Capitals. With that said, he’s still managed a stout 67 points, 112 penalty minutes, and minus-14 through 275 appearances in the NHL. If he can find a strong groove, he could surge back to the NHL on an Islanders blue-line in need of right-side support.

Islanders Re-Sign Tony DeAngelo

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The Islanders have reached a one-year agreement to keep defenseman Tony DeAngelo off the market, the team announced. Frank Seravalli reports it’s worth $1.75MM, giving the Isles $12.94MM in cap space with a roster size of 19, per PuckPedia.

It’s an unsurprising resolution to a season that saw DeAngelo regain momentum as a regular in an NHL lineup. The offensively gifted but defensively challenged blue-liner spent 2023-24 on a one-year deal with the Hurricanes following the second buyout of his career, but slipped to a No. 7 role on their depth chart and only managed 11 points in 31 games. He didn’t receive NHL interest on the open market as a result and headed overseas, signing with SKA St. Petersburg in Russia.

The 29-year-old exploded on a team that included notable names like Ivan Demidov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, recording 32 points in 34 games for SKA before terminating his deal mid-season to pursue NHL opportunities. The Islanders, who were in desperate need of defensive depth at the time, particularly on the right side with Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock out of the lineup, signed him to a one-year, league minimum contract in January.

His return to NHL ice went as expected. He took over as their top power play quarterback, averaging a career-high 23:21 per game, and produced a 4-15–19 scoring line in 35 games. Only Dobson produced more points per game among Islanders defensemen last year than DeAngelo’s 0.54. He also finished sixth-worst on the team with a -11 rating despite playing less than half the schedule, although the Isles did still manage to create more than they gave up with him on the ice at even strength – a 51.8 CF% and 50.9 xGF% back that up.

With Dobson now traded to the Canadiens, DeAngelo fills a need for the Islanders. He’ll presumably remain on their top power-play unit and adds depth to an organization pretty thin on right-shot defensemen. As things stand, it’ll presumably be one of DeAngelo or the comparable Adam Boqvist in the lineup as a pure offensive option on the right side, along with the more defensively inclined Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock.

DeAngelo will give the Islanders a sixth defenseman signed to a one-way deal for 2025-26. Four of them are righties, so there’s still plenty of space for lefty Matthew Schaefer to land a spot in the lineup after going first overall in last week’s draft.

Frank Seravalli was first to report the Islanders and DeAngelo were nearing a contract.

Bridgeport Islanders Expected To Relocate To Hamilton

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  • All signs indicate that professional hockey will return to Hamilton, Ontario. According to Frank Seravalli, the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, an affiliate of the New York Islanders, are expected to relocate to Hamilton beginning in the 2026-27 AHL season. The new team would play at the freshly revamped TD Coliseum. Seravalli did not indicate if Hamilton would retain their affiliation with the Islanders after the relocation, but New York’s affiliate agreement with Bridgeport expires after next season.

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Islanders Sign Alexander Romanov To Eight-Year Extension

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The Islanders are signing RFA defenseman Alexander Romanov to an eight-year, $50MM extension, PuckPedia reports. The deal will carry a cap hit of $6.25MM. The team has since confirmed the deal. He receives no-move protection from 2026-27 through 2029-30 and a 16-team no-trade list from 2029-30 through 2032-33 as part of the deal, per PuckPedia.

Romanov, 25, lands his big payday after taking a three-year, $7.5MM bridge deal from the Isles in 2022. That decision worked out well for him, and he’ll now be one of the team’s most well-compensated defenders through the expiry of his deal following the 2032-33 season.

The 6’1″ lefty has panned out nicely since the Islanders paid a steep acquisition price to land him from the Canadiens at the 2022 draft, parting ways with a pick that was flipped to the Blackhawks for Frank Nazar. He’s coming off his best NHL season yet. While injuries limited him to 64 games, he still produced 20 points for a career-best 0.31 per-game rate and averaged a career-high 22:18 per game.

Romanov always projected as a stout defensive presence; whether he would avoid being too much of an offensive liability to deploy in a top-four role was always the question with his ceiling. He’s answered it now, fitting well in transition despite never being a big-time point producer in his own right. His possession metrics haven’t been particularly impactful one way or another, considering his slightly defensively-oriented deployment, but he’s shown legitimate minute-munching ability while also generating over 200 shot attempts in each of the last four years. He’s also one of the league’s most physically involved defenders, recording 100-plus hits and blocks every year since 2021-22.

There will be a bit of sticker shock on that $6.25MM price tag for a defenseman with an offensive skill set as simple as Romanov’s. Considering the recent comparables set by extensions in the $5MM range for Kevin Bahl and Nicolas Hague, though, it comes across as fair value.

He’ll be a long-term anchor for the Islanders’ left side that still includes Adam Pelech and gained Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick in last week’s draft. The team has $14.7MM in cap space left this summer with Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom, and Maxim Tsyplakov among its notable RFAs still to sign.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Islanders Extend Qualifying Offers To All RFAs

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After a busy stretch that included trading Noah Dobson and drafting Matthew  Schaefer first overall, the Islanders and GM Mathieu Darche have shifted their focus to free agency by extending qualifying offers to all of their pending restricted free agents, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com.

The list of current pending RFAs for the Islanders includes forwards Simon Holmstrom, Emil Heineman, Maxim Tsyplakov, and Marc Gatcomb, as well as defenders Alexander Romanov and Scott Perunovich. Of note, Rosner expects Gatcomb to be back with the Islanders, whether by accepting his qualifying offer or signing a different deal.

All four forwards showcased some success last season. Homstrom, 24, posted 20 goals and 45 points last season. Holmstrom was the Islanders’ 2019 first-round selection (23rd overall) and has skated in 75 games each of the previous two seasons. Gatcomb showcased a solid scoring touch, netting eight goals in 39 NHL games (a projected 17-goal pace over 82), while Heineman chipped in 10 goals and 18 points across 62 contests, and Tsyplakov tallied 10 goals and 35 points in 77 games. And with only five defenders under contract, excluding non‑rostered players, re-signing Romanov and/or Perunovich could provide valuable depth on the blue line.

Islanders Re-Sign Liam Foudy, Julien Gauthier To Two-Way Deals

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The Islanders are bringing back forwards Liam Foudy and Julien Gauthier for 2025-26 on two-way contracts, per a club announcement Sunday. Foudy’s financial terms haven’t been disclosed. However, PuckPedia reports that Gauthier will earn an NHL salary of $775K and a minor-league salary of $325K, with a $425K guarantee. Foudy was slated to become an RFA with arbitration rights on Tuesday, while Gauthier could have become a UFA.

Both are presumably destined for waivers in October and, if they clear, tons of ice time with AHL Bridgeport. They’ll hope to retain the seasoned pros as reinforcements for their struggling minor-league affiliate, which finished last in the AHL this season with a 15-50-4-3 record, including just four home wins. They’ve already made progress in replacing the entire coaching staff for the Baby Isles, naming former Flyers assistant Rocky Thompson as their new head coach last week.

The Islanders signed Foudy to a two-way deal last summer after he went non-tendered by the Predators, who claimed the 2018 first-round pick off waivers from Columbus but ended up stashing him in the minors for most of 2023-24 anyway. While the 25-year-old did get a pair of NHL games with the Isles early in the year, he successfully cleared waivers this time around and spent most of the year in Bridgeport. The versatile depth forward was one of just two Baby Isles to hit the 20-goal mark, adding 25 assists for 45 points. His eye-popping -31 rating was more a result of the team’s overall struggles than poor individual defensive play.

He’ll look to leverage his strong skating ability into increased offensive production for Bridgeport next year in hopes of earning more NHL opportunities than he did in 2024-25. He’s appeared in six straight NHL seasons with Columbus, Nashville, and New York but only has 104 appearances to his name, recording 22 points and a -29 rating for his career.

Gauthier, meanwhile, returns for his third season in the Islanders organization after signing a two-year, $1.58MM contract in 2023 following a non-tender by the Senators. He made a lone appearance for the Islanders back in October before returning to Bridgeport, where his season was cut short by an injury in late November. He did manage three goals and eight points in nine games for the club before landing on the injured list, though.

The 6’4″, 225-lb winger is also a former first-round pick who hasn’t managed to land a full-time NHL role over multiple seasons, going 21st overall to the Hurricanes back in 2016. He has slightly more NHL experience and production than Foudy, at 41 points in 181 career games. Now 27, he’s peaked as a top-six AHL producer with legitimate NHL call-up utility but doesn’t have much more room for growth.

Islanders Won't Trade Pageau This Summer

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While there has been strong trade interest in Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, it doesn’t appear as if he’s in play.  Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the Isles have informed teams that they won’t be moving the 32-year-old.  The 32-year-old is coming off one of his better years offensively after tallying 42 points in 79 games while winning nearly 60% of his faceoffs.  A capable checker, Pageau will be entering the final year of his contract next season on a deal that carries a $5MM cap charge.  Given the lack of depth in the center market, New York likely would have been well-positioned to land a return of some value for Pageau’s services but it appears now that they’ll hold onto him and potentially reassess his situation closer to the trade deadline in March.

Islanders Select Matthew Schaefer First Overall

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As expected, the New York Islanders have selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft. Schaefer is the first defenseman chosen first overall since Owen Power in 2021, and only the sixth defenseman to achieve this since the 1992 NHL Draft, when the Ottawa Senators selected Chris Phillips.

Despite playing on the opposite side of the blue line, Schaefer’s presence at the top of the draft order made trading Noah Dobson all the more palatable for the Islanders. They’ll now have a younger defenseman with a higher ceiling, while acquiring additional assets in return.

Still, Schaefer is not your typical first overall selection, and there’s no questioning that the Islanders are making a gamble. Due to a broken collarbone suffered during the 2024-25 World Junior Championships, Schaefer finished the season with seven goals and 22 points in 17 games with the OHL’s Erie Otters.

Having that level of injury concern is never ideal entering your draft year, but a collarbone fracture shouldn’t carry any long-term issues. His talent speaks for itself, and that’s the exact reason he was chosen as this summer’s top selection.

Due to his lack of playing time throughout the 2024-25 season, Schaefer becomes an exercise in scouting raw talent for the NHL level. Without any shadow of a doubt, he has the capabilities to become a top-pairing defenseman long term.

In their 2025 NHL Draft Guide, Elite Prospects broke down Schaefer’s talent perfectly, saying:

“Schaefer controls games from the back end, making the play flow through him. An elite puck-rusher, he takes off from behind his net, using it as a shield against the forecheck, and traverses the defensive zone with a few long strides. He spots teammates in every direction, making both one-touch plays and elaborate, deceptive feeds. Attacking down, he grabs the spotlight and draws opponents to him, before turning and relaying the puck across.“

Islanders Offered Dobson For Marner Last Deadline

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The opening day of the 2025 NHL Draft got off to a quick start earlier today when the New York Islanders traded defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens for Emil Heineman and a pair of first-round picks. If the Islanders’ old General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, had it his way, Dobson would have already been wearing a different Canadian team’s uniform.

It stands to reason that the Islanders may have known Dobson was out of their price range on a long-term extension for some time, and the new administration faced similar issues as the last. At any rate, the Islanders now have approximately $21MM in cap space entering the offseason without a big-ticket extension on their horizon.

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Canadiens Acquire, Extend Noah Dobson From Islanders

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The Montreal Canadiens are set to acquire high-scoring defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes. The deal was later confirmed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who shares that the Islanders signed Dobson to a maximum-term, eight-year contract before moving him to Montreal. That extension will carry a total value of $76MM, or an annual average value of $9.5MM.

In return, the Islanders will receive both of Montreal’s draft picks in the 2025 first-round – picks 16 and 17 – as well as forward prospect Emil Heineman, per Friedman.

After multiple days of rumors, Montreal has landed the big fish in high-end scorer Dobson. The move will give Montreal more oomph to an already high-octane offensive group manning their blue-line. Dobson managed a career-year at the age of just 24 during the 2023-24 campaign, when he managed 10 goals and 70 points in 79 games. He became the first Islanders defenseman since Stanley Cup-winner Denis Potvin to reach the 60-assist mark.

That breakout performance was a gradual ramp-up after Dobson managed 13 goals and 51 points in 2021-22, and 13 goals and 49 points in 2022-23. He’s climbed the ranks of offensive output and reached double-digit goals in every full season of his NHL career. That includes reaching 10 goals again this year, though his point total took a surprising tumble to 39 points in 71 games played.

That sudden spike in scoring, and a fall to a minus-16 after posting a plus-12 last year, brought out many skeptics to Dobson’s overall upside. But it’s worth noting that New York scored the fifth-fewest goals in the NHL this season (222), 23 fewer than they managed in Dobson’s breakout campaign in 2024. A bulk of that decrease can be attributed to Islanders’ star forward Mathew Barzal missing all but 30 games of this season, after leading the Islanders in scoring in 2023-24.

Dobson’s scoring totals are near-second-to-none in the league. He ranks fifth among U25 defensemen in total goals scored over the last five seasons (49), behind Cale Makar (104), Rasmus Dahlin (70), Evan Bouchard (54), and Quinn Hughes (51). Dobson also ranks sixth in total points (223) behind Makar (378), Hughes (353), Dahlin (275), Adam Fox (266), and Bouchard (237).

But Dobson’s defensive prowess remains scrutinized. Among the same sample – U25 defenders over the last five years – only seven players have been on the ice for more goals-against than Dobson’s 346. He’s also been on the ice for the eighth-most expected goals-against (xGA; 385.53), per Evolving Hockey. Of the bunch, he boasts the fourth-best goal-differential (+82).

There’s a lot to like, and a lot to be nervous about in how Dobson has blazed his path through his first four full seasons in the NHL. But that argument aside, there seems no denying that he’s among the sheer best, young offensive-defensemen in the NHL. His growth into a star, top-pair role in New York far exceeded the 12th-overall draft spot he earned in the 2018 NHL Draft – and likely exceeds the paths any options at Montreal’s previous 16th and 17th overall slots this year would have yielded. He’s a premier scorer, and will join another emerging superstar on Montreal’s defense in Lane Hutson. Hutson reached the 60-assist mark as a 20-year-old rookie this season, and earned the Calder Trophy because of it.

Both Hutson and Dobson dominate possession on their line – and excel at gaining momentum through their drives in the neutral zone. They’ll be elusive and effective play-drivers, but man need to play off of each other’s pairings to give Montreal the best results. That will be where other young Montreal defenders have a chance to step up – with Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher likely the future glue pieces holding the offensive-stars down. How Montreal pursues that deployment, or even if they’ll maintain their current structure at all, will be headlines worth following through the rest of the summer.

Meanwhile Heineman will fall as the unheralded addition to a draft-day blockbuster. The 23-year-old winger played through his rookie NHL season in Montreal’s bottom-six this year. He managed 10 goals and 18 points through 62 games, though looked in need of a spark through multiple points in the year. This move marks the third time that Heineman has been moved by his NHL club – after previously being traded from the Florida Panthers to the Calgary Flames in a 2021 deal that landed Florida Sam Bennett; then from the Flames to the Canadiens in a 2022 trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to Calgary.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

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