Islanders have three other key members to consider
Lee and Pageau are not the only key members the Islanders must consider extending. There are also two blueliners, Tony DeAngelo and the recently acquired Soucy.
DeAngelo is perhaps the easiest to assess. While he hasn’t been a Norris Trophy candidate, he’s been solid enough to earn Patrick Roy’s trust. The 30-year-old DeAngelo signed a one-year deal last offseason to stay in Long Island. His play could certainly merit a multi-year extension. That makes the Olympics the best time to broach the subject. If there doesn’t seem to be a match there, the Islanders and DeAngelo can just run out the clock or potentially explore a trade.
The situation with Soucy, however, seems a bit murkier. Soucy has just arrived and has had very little time to assess his time with the Islanders. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to approach Soucy about an extension. It might be too soon to work out an extension, but at least the two parties will have an idea about where a potential negotiation could go. If not, the Isles could just let Soucy play out the rest of the season and figure things out over the summer.
Lastly, there’s David Rittich. He’s a piece the Islanders have to keep. His play has been a crucial factor in keeping the Islanders in the playoff race this season. While keeping Rittich seems like a no-brainer, there is one catch. Semyon Varlamov is under contract for one more season. As such, the Islanders will need to determine whether Varlamov could realistically come back next season.
If he can’t, signing Rittich becomes an obvious move. But if Varlamov could be ready for next season, the Isles must then decide what to do about their goaltending situation. That might be a tough decision and one that may not see an outcome during the Olympics. But at least all sides will know where they stand moving forward.
All told, the list of pending items sounds daunting. But with the rigors of games off the board, and with Bo Horvat and Ondrej Palat being the only Islanders at the Olympics, the club will have a great opportunity to address the future of key veterans moving forward.