- Pierre LeBrun reports Anders Lee and the Islanders are far apart on a new contract
- Lee’s camp expects the 35-year-old captain to test the market on July 1
- Read below for the latest on what is next for the Islanders captain
Anders Lee is heading toward the open market.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Wednesday that the Islanders captain and pending unrestricted free agent appears most likely headed to July 1, with talks between Lee’s camp and New York “far apart” on a new deal.
LeBrun says Lee’s agent, Neil Sheehy, sat down with Islanders GM Mathieu Darche to lay out the parameters of a new deal. The two sides remain a long way from common ground. New York still intends to keep negotiating, but if nothing shifts in the next four weeks, Lee will hit the market for the first time in his 13-year career.
The 35-year-old is wrapping up a seven-year, $49 million contract that carried a $7 million cap hit. He had 19 goals and 42 points in 82 games this past season and slots in at No. 14 on TSN’s list of available UFAs. He has spent his entire career in blue and orange and has worn the C since 2018.
Lee himself sounded like a guy bracing for goodbye when he spoke about his future on ESPN Radio’s Don, La Greca & Rosenberg this week.
“This has been my home. It’s been my home for a long time. I’ve raised my family here, and it’s been a privilege to be an Islander and to be a captain of this team. I feel like I got a lot of good years left of hockey in me and I still feel really good out there. So, we’d love to make this happen.”
That feel-good ending now looks complicated. Darche is in his first offseason as the Isles’ general manager and is staring at a cap sheet that needs trimming before he can hand his captain another multi-year commitment. Lee’s preference is to finish what he started on Long Island, but the dollars have to line up first.
If he does walk, contenders will line up. Lee gives you size, net-front presence, and a captain’s voice in the room. That is exactly what playoff teams pay up for in July free agency.
Walking away from Long Island would close out a one-team run that includes 308 goals and 549 points in 923 games, all of them in the same sweater. Take a look back at what he gave the Islanders this past season:
July 1 is going to tell us a lot.
