Islanders agree to terms with free-agent forward Anthony Duclair and re-sign defenseman Mike Reilly
Anthony Duclair of the Tampa Bay Lightning looks on during a game against the New York Islanders at Amalie Arena on March 30, 2024. Credit: Getty Images
The opportunity is there for Anthony Duclair to complement Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal on the Islanders’ top line. But what really attracted the speedy skater to the franchise was the chance to play for his junior hockey coach, Patrick Roy.
“We all know about my connection with Pat, and it was a big reason for me coming to the Island,” Duclair said on a Zoom teleconference Monday after signing a four-year, $14 million deal to join his ninth NHL team. “He gave me a call this morning and told me that he wanted me. When a coach calls you and tells you he wants you on his team, it’s hard to say no. Especially when it’s Pat.”
The Islanders also re-signed defenseman Mike Reilly to a one-year, $1.25 million deal as the NHL free-agent market opened Monday. The moves leave the club with a little more than $1 million in salary-cap space under the $88 million ceiling with 20 players.
That doesn’t include injured defenseman Scott Mayfield ($3.5 million) or forward Maxim Tsyplakov ($950,000), a KHL import. Nor does it include restricted free-agent forwards Simon Holmstrom, Ruslan Iskhakov or Oliver Wahlstrom.
It does, however, likely signal that unrestricted free-agent fourth-liners Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin will have to look elsewhere for work.
Teams can exceed the salary-cap ceiling by 10% until the season begins.
Duclair, who will turn 29 on Aug. 26, split last season between the San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning, totaling 24 goals and 18 assists in 73 games. It was the fourth time in nine full NHL seasons that Duclair has scored at least 20 goals, meaning Roy and president and general manager Lou Lamoriello likely view him as a top-line candidate. Casey Cizikas, who typically centers the fourth line, ended the season completing a trio with Horvat and Barzal.
“When you say important, you can answer that,” Lamoriello said Saturday in Las Vegas at the conclusion of the two-day NHL Draft when asked about the need to find a scoring wing to work with Horvat and Barzal. “Whenever you can get a piece to fit, [but] you never know what that piece is. It might be right in front of our nose, right on our roster.”
Roy, who led the Islanders to a second straight first-round playoff ouster by the Carolina Hurricanes after taking over for the fired Lane Lambert on Jan. 20, coached Duclair from 2011-13 with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
“It’s someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” Duclair said. “I know him very well and his family very well. I think it was a great fit in that perspective.
“With Bo and Barzy, two exceptional players. I’m looking forward to joining this forward group. Whoever I play with, I think I’m going to be in good hands.”
Duclair, who broke into the NHL with the Rangers in 2014, also was a teammate of third-line center Jean-Gabriel Pageau with the Ottawa Senators.
Duclair’s longest stint with any team was three seasons with Florida from 2020-23.
“It was big,” he said of the Islanders offering him a four-year contract. “I’ve moved around these last couple of years. At this stage of my career and my life, I just wanted a little more stability, try and find a home for a little bit. I’m glad Lou gave me that vote of confidence.”
Reilly, who will turn 31 on July 13, had six goals and 18 assists in 59 games after the Islanders claimed him off waivers from the Panthers. He likely will start the season as Mayfield’s partner on a third pair.
Defensemen Sebastian Aho and Robert Bortuzzo, both UFAs, remain unsigned.
Notes & quotes: Tommy Albelin, a two-time Stanley Cup winner for Lamoriello’s Devils, was hired as an assistant coach to complete Roy’s staff. He replaces Doug Houda, whose contract was not renewed, to run the defensemen and possibly the penalty kill. Albelin, 60, who also served two tenures as a Devils assistant, spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach for Team Switzerland . . . The NHL announced that the Islanders will open their season at UBS Arena against Utah — the former Arizona Coyotes — on Oct. 10, then travel to Dallas to face the Stars in their home opener Oct. 12. The full schedule will be released Tuesday.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.