Hockey Islanders re-sign Eberle to five year contract by Chris Passarelli June 14, 2019 The New York Islanders made a surprise signing this morning, signing forward Jordan Eberle to a five year contract. Eberle would have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. The AAV of Eberle’s contract was $5M, with a full no trade clause for the first two years and a 16 team no trade clause years three to five. The signing of Eberle comes as a bit of a surprise, as it looked like he would fetch far more per year if he hit free agency. Although Lou Lamoriello and his staff keeps everything a secret, it seemed that Eberle was lowest on the totem pole of re-signings for the Islanders. He and Brock Nelson, the two most likely to leave the Island, are now the two on the inside looking out. Now that Eberle is re-signed, the focus shifts to Captain Anders Lee and UFA goaltender Robin Lehner. The Islanders have a little more than $19M left in cap space for the 2019-20 season. They still need to re-sign their captain, their starting goaltender, all their RFAs and improve the team. If this is any indication, either Lehner or Lee will not be returning to the team. There is no way that Lamoriello will let the Islanders’ captain leave twice in two years, so if they don’t have the space for Lehner he will be the odd man out. It also looks like Lamoriello will try to improve the team via trade rather than free agency. With Jeff Skinner already off the board and Bobrovsky and Panarin likely headed to South Florida, there are very few free agents that will be worth the price. If Lamoriello can dangle Nick Leddy out there as a main trade piece, something can get done. The NHL season has just ended, but the rebuild for next year has just begun for the Islanders. Post Views: 913 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Chris Passarelli Football Editor - Hockey Editor - New York Islanders Lead Writer - New York Lizards Lead Writer - UConn Football Lead Writer Latest posts by Chris Passarelli (see all) NFL Network to Premiere ‘The Top 100 Players of 2020’ on July 26 - July 22, 2020 The ‘Toilet Bowl’ may be coming to Western New York - July 16, 2020 Bigger is Better; SoFi Stadium Completes Largest Videoboard in Sports - July 1, 2020 Smoltz, Vrabel and Brown talk American Century Championship and Everything in Between - June 30, 2020 Related TopicsAnders LeeBrock NelsonFeatureJordan EberleNew York IslandersRobin Lehner Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 From Paramus High School to CBS Sports, Spero Dedes is making waves in sports broadcasting by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on October 27, 2020 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 Women in Sports: Podcast Host, New York Riptide Sideline Reporter, Dani Wexelman by Luke Porco | posted on March 3, 2020 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 More in Hockey Tim Peel is Discharged After Caught on Hot Mic Tim Peel was Discharged from the NHL After He was Caught on the Hot... NHL, Amazon Web Services Partner to Develop New Stats, Data, and Insights The National Hockey League (NHL) is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in an... You Know I’m Right, Episode 81: ESPN’s Arda Ocal (Audio/Video) On the 81st episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 80: MSG Network’s Bill Pidto (Audio/Video) On the 80th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... How the Rangers Two First Round Picks Can Change the Look of their Franchise Eberle’s re-signing is positive sign for Islanders’ outlook