With many of the NHL’s top unrestricted free agents off the board, the focus now turns to signing those with impending restricted free-agent deals.
The New York Islanders have two of those names, with one of them being Noah Dobson.
Dobson was a breakout name for the Islanders on the blueline this season with 10 goals and career-highs in assists and points with 60 and 70, respectively.
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His performance came in the second season of a three-year, $12 million contract. With his $4 million cap hit expiring at the end of the 2024-25 season, he will be due for a significant pay raise.
Several other defensemen have reached long-term agreements with their respective teams this summer.
Minnesota Wild’s 21-year-old blueliner Brock Faber agreed to terms on an eight-year, $68 million contract carrying an $8.5 million cap hit.
The Montreal Canadiens also re-signed 22-year-old Kaiden Guhle to a long-term contract, clocking in at six years and a $33.3 million deal on Wednesday, worth $5.55 million annually.
With several defensemen inking multi-year deals, chances are it only ups Dobson’s next contract.
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However, the situations regarding the two players are not quite the same as Dobson’s.
Both players were on their rookie contracts at the time of signing, meaning these deals buy out a handful of RFA years before they would’ve hit the open market.
What also makes these deals different is their style of play.
While Faber had a solid offensive year, tallying eight goals and 39 assists for 47 points, he was also a key cog in their play in the defensive zone.
Guhle is in the same boat, tallying six goals and 16 assists for 22 points while solidifying Montreal’s defense.
As a result, while teams are beginning to ink their defensemen into long-term deals, both had the benefit of buying out RFA years, which the Islanders won’t quite have that luxury.
Another three-year bridge deal takes him to unrestricted free agency, making the term that much more important.
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Looking at recent signings, Brandon Montour’s deal with the Seattle Kraken comes to mind.
After a strong run with the Florida Panthers, he inked a seven-year, $50 million contract, averaging about $7.15 million a year.
Filip Hronek is also a potential comparison, as he signed an eight-year, $58 million deal with a $7.25 million cap hit.
The Prince Edward Island native’s offensive performance topped both of these blueliners, but these deals will likely be the floor of what he could receive from general manager Lou Lamoriello.
The long-time general manager has given out long-term deals at will.
That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have, as Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Ilya Sorokin getting eight-year deals made sense, regardless of the fan base’s emotions.
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Giving seven years to Scott Mayfield ($3.5M AAV) and Pierre Engvall $3M AAV) may come back to bite him, giving more years to keep the annual hit down.
We’ll see how all of these contracts pan out.
While the Islanders do have some questions to answer about their salary cap heading into next season, the situations with the Faber and Guhle deals are not quite the same, but they certainly have some impact on Dobson’s impending contract.
Dobson getting an eight-year deal should be a no-brainer, and if they can get him at $8 million annually, that should bode well, especially with the cap rising exponentially and Dobson’s game potentially doing the same.
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