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Tony DeAngelo

Islanders Notes: Dobson, Reilly, Palmieri, DeAngelo, Varlamov

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Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson is slated to become a restricted free agent this summer and is in line for a substantial raise on the $4MM he made on his bridge deal.  Speaking to reporters including Ethan Sears of the New York Post, the 25-year-old declined to provide a preference between signing a short-term deal that could allow him to hit the open market in his prime or a long-term agreement that could make him the highest-paid player in team history.  Dobson had a quieter year this season with 10 goals and 29 assists in 71 games but he’s only a year removed from a 70-point effort that saw him land in the top ten in Norris Trophy voting which will play a significant role in negotiations.  Dobson has just this one year of RFA eligibility remaining and he is arbitration-eligible.

More from the Isles:

  • After missing more than four months following being diagnosed with a heart condition, defenseman Mike Reilly told reporters including Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News he intends to play next season. The 31-year-old was limited to just 18 appearances this season between the heart issue and being scratched with some frequency and while he noted he’d like to stay with the Isles, the limited usage could suggest that he’s unlikely to be brought back.  Reilly had just two assists in those 18 outings while his 15:10 ATOI was the second lowest of his career.
  • Winger Kyle Palmieri wasn’t moved at the trade deadline with the belief that the two sides were close on a new deal. That hasn’t happened yet but the veteran indicated to Newsday’s Andrew Gross and other reporters that he’s hopeful a new contract can be reached.  A pending UFA, the 34-year-old had 24 goals and 24 assists in 82 games this season which should put him in line for another contract close to the $5MM he received for each of the last four years.
  • Pending UFA defenseman Tony DeAngelo told reporters including Gross that his intention is to remain in the NHL next season with his preferred outcome being remaining with the Isles. Signed midseason after having his KHL deal terminated, DeAngelo played a bigger role than expected, averaging over 23 minutes a night of playing time while chipping in with 19 points in 35 games.  With that type of production, DeAngelo’s market might be better this time around after not getting a firm offer last summer while playing for the prorated league minimum when he joined New York.
  • Goaltender Semyon Varlamov is hoping to start skating in June as he continues his recovery from a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup since late November, Gross relays. The 36-year-old posted a 2.89 GAA with a .889 SV% in just ten starts this season and still has two years left on his contract that carries a $2.75MM cap charge.

Metropolitan Notes: Strome, Fitzgerald, Islander Defenders

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Center Dylan Strome is in the lineup tonight after being questionable to play due to sickness, per a team announcement. He was a full participant in today’s morning skate and is centering the team’s top line between Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson.

Despite feeling under the weather, Strome scored Washington’s first goal of the game tonight against the Red Wings. His availability is key for the Capitals as they continue their run towards the top seed in the eastern conference. Strome has been instrumental to the team’s success, registering 65 points in 67 games played. He is set to break his career high of 67 points in a season, which he recorded just last year.

In his last three seasons, he has recorded 71 goals and 197 points and has assisted on many Ovechkin’s goals as the Russian sniper nears the all-time mark.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald discussed a scary situation that occurred to his son with his fellow general managers at their annual meetings, per an NHL release. Fitzgerald’s son, Casey Fitzgerald, a defender with Hartford of the AHL, sustained a serious cut to his neck from a skate blade in a game against Providence on Dec. 28. Casey was wearing a neck guard, which is mandated by the AHL, but the skate hit above the guard, and it was very close to being a life-threatening situation. The elder Fitzgerald approved of photos being shown of the wound, acknowledging the photos could serve as a reminder to the seriousness of these gruesome injuries. While the AHL requires cut-resistant equipment, the NHL currently doesn’t have these provisions in place. While Fitzgerald would like to see this change, he is also looking toward even better advancements in protective equipment. He noted that had the skate hit his son’s neck guard, it wouldn’t have prevented the cut from taking place in that particular situation. But better preventative measures, including wider neck straps, could help prevent serious cuts.
  • The Islanders’ Adam Pelech is playing tonight against the Penguins, while defenders Alexander Romanov and Adam Boqvist both missed the contest due to illness, per a team announcement. Pelech was a full participant in the Islanders morning skate on Tuesday after missing Sunday’s contest against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury. Coach Patrick Roy noted his return as a huge support for the team. Pelech has recorded 17 assists, 65 blocked shots, and 68 hits through 45 games on the season. With Romanov and Boqvist out, defender Tony DeAngelo is paired with Pelech, and veteran Mike Reilly cracked the lineup for just the 13th time this season.

Islanders Sign Tony DeAngelo To One-Year Deal

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Saturday: DeAngelo has passed through waivers unclaimed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  That paves the way for him to officially join the Islanders.

Friday: The Islanders signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a one-year deal on Friday, per a team announcement. He’ll join the club for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after recently being released by SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, assuming he clears return waivers. The deal is worth the prorated league minimum of $775K with no bonuses, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.

DeAngelo, 29, generated little interest on the open market last summer after completing a one-year, $1.675MM contract with the Hurricanes. He reportedly approached the Oilers about a professional tryout shortly before training camp, but the interest wasn’t mutual. DeAngelo then inked a one-year deal to head to Russia for the first time, a move that had been rumored for much of the latter half of the offseason.

The power-play specialist told Larry Brooks of the New York Post in early December that he wasn’t optimistic about an NHL return, but it appears he felt an opportunity may be materializing when SKA released him on Jan. 13. The New Jersey native lit up the KHL in his brief run overseas, posting 32 points and a +15 rating in 34 games on a St. Petersburg roster that includes longtime Capital and brief Hurricanes teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov and Canadiens top prospect Ivan Demidov.

DeAngelo’s move overseas means he must clear the little-used return waiver process. It’s sometimes resulted in claims, including the Coyotes nabbing Harri Säteri off waivers from the Maple Leafs in 2022 after Toronto attempted to bring him over to bolster their goaltending depth.

The Islanders were in need of blue-line help, especially on the right side. Star defender Noah Dobson sustained a right leg injury Monday against the Blue Jackets and is out week-to-week, while depth puck-mover Mike Reilly remains on long-term injured reserve after undergoing heart surgery in November.

DeAngelo provides a power-play replacement for the duo but certainly can’t replicate Dobson’s minutes at even strength. He returned to Carolina for his second stint with the Hurricanes last season after being bought out for the second time in his career by the Flyers. However, he was limited to 11 points in 31 games and averaged a paltry 14:20 per game while sitting in the press box for most of the back half of the campaign.

The 5’11” righty has 210 points in 371 career NHL games, 89 of which have come on the power play. His 0.57 points per game since debuting in the 2016-17 season ranks 30th among defenders with at least 100 games played during that timeframe.

Defensive deficiencies and constant unavailability due to external and internal suspensions have limited DeAngelo’s ceiling as a top-four option for most of his career. He most notably spent nearly all of the 2020-21 campaign with the Rangers on their taxi squad after an altercation with then-teammate Alexandar Georgiev and was bought out at season’s end, coming just one year after he finished 12th in Norris Trophy voting in 2019-20 with a career-best 53 points in 68 games.

A first-round pick by the Lightning in 2014, DeAngelo now joins his sixth NHL organization. He won’t be eligible to play tonight against the Flyers while on return waivers but could make his Isles debut against Carolina tomorrow if he clears.

The Islanders don’t have an open roster spot, but they won’t need one until DeAngelo’s waiver period ends. They’ll need to clear two places before the Carolina game, as winger Maxim Tsyplakov is also set to return from a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Philadelphia center Ryan Poehling last week. That will likely involve returning forward Marc Gatcomb to AHL Bridgeport and moving Dobson to IR, but they have a few other options too.

DeAngelo will most likely suit up as a third-pairing option while handling top-unit power-play duties in Dobson’s absence. Veterans Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield will presumably continue to lock down the Isles’ top two pairings on the right side.

Snapshots: Tomasino, DeAngelo, Tracey, Stephens

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Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has shared that red-hot winger Philip Tomasino will be held out of Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. Seth Rorabaugh of Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review Sports adds that Tomasino is out on a day-to-day basis.

Tomasino has been on fire since joining the Penguins. He’s on a four-game scoring streak, netting three goals and four points along the way. Tomasino has already lapped the one assist he managed in 11 games with Nashville to start the year – likely thanks to the near-four minutes more in average ice time he’s received in Pittsburgh, jumping from 11:18 a night with Nashville to 15:00 with Pittsburgh. Tomasino is one of seven Penguins rivaling point-per-game scoring over the last four games. That standing will earn him a quick return to the Penguins’ top-six when he’s back to full health.

Other quick notes around the league:

  • Polarizing defenseman Tony DeAngelo shared that he’s not optimistic about an NHL return with Larry Brooks of the New York Post. DeAngelo signed a contract with Russia’s SKA St. Petersburg this summer. He’s managed four goals and 24 points in his first 23 games with the club. He told Brooks that his goal is to return to the NHL, but didn’t specify what’s limiting his hopes. DeAngelo played through eight NHL seasons, mostly spent between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes. He stood as a high-scoring, but minimal-defense option for both teams. With no NHL deal in sight, DeAngelo moved to Russia over the summer and may be kept there despite scoring above a point-per-game. DeAngelo is joined on the SKA roster by former NHL players Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nikita Zaitsev, and Mikhail Grigorenko.
  • Brayden Tracey, the 29th-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has signed a one-year contract with Jukurit of Finland’s Liiga. He’ll move over seas after starting this season with no points through four games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Tracey has spent the bulk of the last five seasons with the Anaheim Ducks’ minor league affiliate, totaling 84 points through 188 games. He’s received just one NHL game over that tenure – recording nine minutes of ice time and no scoring in a win over Detroit in January of 2022. He was returned to the minors immediately after, and hasn’t earned a look since. Tracey will now try to prove his worth, and earn another NHL contract, with a strong year in Finland’s top league.
  • The Seattle Kraken have returned forward Mitchell Stephens to the minor leagues, per the AHL Transaction Log. Stephens slotted into Seattle’s last four games, recording six shots on net but no scoring while operating on the Kraken’s fourth line. He’ll return to a middle-six role in the AHL, where he currently has three goals and four points in 11 games. Stephens split time between the Montreal Canadiens’ NHL and AHL roster last season, recording three points in 23 NHL games and 35 points in 49 AHL games.

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