Team: 2020-21 New York Islanders

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 5, 2020

Published: Jul. 5, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Transactions:
Barzal Contract: ~8.5mil for 2 years works for Barzal because he gets a good salary for 2 years, and once the 2 years is up he can get a significant raise. On GM Lou’s side, this works because after 2 years the majority of the team’s bad contracts will be up, giving him more cap to work with when Barzal needs a huge contract. And in 2-3 years the salary cap should rise, creating more room. Also, Barzal will still be a RFA when the contract is up, so the Islanders won’t lose him for nothing, if Barzal chooses to leave.
Hall Contract: Same reasons as Barzal, but Hall would be a UFA at the end of his contract.
Ladd Retirement: Reportedly as part of the new CBA, players that are 35+ years old and are on multi year contracts can retire without their cap hit counting against the salary cap. Lou Lamoriello gets Ladd to retire on his 35th birthday (it would fall right before the start of the 2020-21 season) for these reasons.
Boychuk Retirement: Same reasons as Ladd’s retirement, except that Boychuk is already older than 35.
Komarov and Clutterbuck Cap Dump: The Red Wings are reportedly willing to take on bad contracts in order to get more draft picks, so the Islanders are the perfect team to do so with. Both teams will ultimately get what they want.
Bailey Trade: The Sabres get a much needed top 6 forward with an affordable cap hit for a reasonable price. The Islanders load off a contract and free up a right wing slot for the emerging Oliver Wahlstrom.
Leivo and Noesen Signings: Both are good depth forwards that play Barry Trotz’s kind of style.

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