The New York Islanders‘ summer business has churned to a halt, as most teams start to breathe for a few months.
The Islanders, as expected, did not undergo any major surgery. They did lose longtime captain and franchise stalwart Anders Lee to free agency, where Lee signed with the Utah Mammoth.
The Islanders signed Matias Maccelli to a one-year, $2.25 million deal. Depth one-year signings in Matthew Kessel ($850,000) and Vitek Vanecek ($1 million) made up the rest of New York’s business on July 1.
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With all the dust settled, the Islanders currently have a team cap hit of $101,002,083 million. The new cap ceiling sits at $104,000,000, meaning the Islanders have $2,997,917 in cap space remaining.
However, that cap number is based on the Islanders carrying three goalies and 20 skaters, with Vanecek on the books.
In reality, Vanecek likely begins in Hamilton, with his entire hit getting buried.
That one change gives the Islanders just under $4 million in cap space.
With that type of money, they have plenty of room if they choose to offer a one-year deal to any of the remaining free agents.
If they make no other changes, the Islanders could carry one of Isaiah George ($913k cap hit), Victor Eklund ($974k cap hit), Mitchell Chaffee ($850k cap hit), or Liam Foudy ($850k cap hit).
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That gives additional wiggle room, even if only in a small amount.
The Islanders can save that space for Matthew Schaefer‘s likely $3.5 million in bonuses for 2026-27.
Next summer, the Islanders will begin with over $40 million in cap space before any trades or extensions for Simon Holmstrom and Emil Heineman.
The entire setup for this summer is about flexibility, and that’s exactly what the Islanders have.
