The New York Islanders had a very quiet summer, outside of bidding farewell to Anders Lee while bringing in Matias Maccelli on a one-year deal.
As a result, the team with an older core will begin the 2026-27 season as the sixth-oldest side in the NHL.
That figure does not include 19-year-old Victor Eklund, who is expected to make the Islanders out of training camp, or, at the very least, be one of the very last cuts.
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This could be the last season for a while with the Islanders as one of the oldest teams in the league.
Next summer, all three of Ondrej Palat, Kyle Palmieri, and Casey Cizikas will be unrestricted free agents, and all of them are 35 years old.
Defensively, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield‘s trade protections drop from full no-trade clauses to partial no-trade clauses, while Kashawn Aitcheson’s potential emergence could force a trade of Adam Pelech.
Additionally, 38-year-old Semyon Varlamov will also be an unrestricted free agent, further dropping the Islanders’ average age for next season.
