Good moves by Islanders? Check back in seven years
The Islanders' Scott Mayfield, left, and Pierre Engvall.
Seven years is an eternity in the NHL. So, and this is just a blanket statement, seven-year deals tend to age very poorly.
It was surprising on Saturday to see Islanders president/general manager Lou Lamoriello sign his own unrestricted free agents, forward Pierre Engvall and defenseman Scott Mayfield, to seven-year deals when the industry expectation was both would receive around four years.
Holding the annual average values to a more team-friendly price was the obvious reason. Mayfield settled at $3.5 million and Engvall did so for a $3 million cap hit.
That means the gamble isn’t as big as it might seem. Either contract could be bought out in the latter part of the deal without a brutal impact on the Islanders’ salary-cap situation, especially given that the cap ceilings are expected to rise more significantly after this season.
Mayfield, who will turn 31 on Oct. 14 when the Islanders open their season against the Sabres at UBS Arena, is a third-pair defenseman. But blueliners, especially right-handers, come at a premium on the open market.
“I think he’s an unheralded sort of player in what he does and what he brings and the minutes that he takes up and, also, the physicality that he brings to the game,” Lamoriello said. “He adds that to the defense we have. He plays in every defensive situation and also is a top penalty-killer. He was an important person. He doesn’t do it with glamour. He just does it in an efficient way.”
“When you look at free agency, it’s kind of weird,” Mayfield said during the Islanders’ breakup day on May 1, when he repeated his desire to stay with the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2011. “You can look at comps. You can look at what you bring to different teams. You can look at places to live. You can look at just money. There are so many factors that go into the decision to bring a guy in and where a player can choose to go.”
Engvall, 27, has never scored more than the 17 goals he recorded last season between the Maple Leafs and Islanders, who acquired him on Feb. 28. He’s never had more than the 20 assists he had in 2021-22 for the Maple Leafs.
“In the small sample size that I think a lot of you folks [the media] have seen, he brings speed to the game,” said Lamoriello, who was the Maple Leafs’ GM from 2015-18. “He’s got outstanding range. He’s got hockey sense. He’s only going to get better and better. I watched him when he first came over [from Sweden] when I had him in Toronto and his game has increased as far as the dimension he has. I think you’re going to find dividends in this young man.”
Lamoriello always tiptoes the line between his fierce loyalty to those who work hard for him and having to make impersonal roster decisions.
There’s no guarantee how these decisions will age over seven years.
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.
