Don’t be fooled by his rules about jersey numbers, facial hairstyles and sideburn length; Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has a sense of humor.
After making it standard practice to keep contract agreements in a drawer for months, how else are we supposed to explain his decision to drop clearances for four big, consequential deals at once on day one of free agency? It’s funny! Lou Lamoriello loves to laugh!
Yes, in fact, Ilya Sorokin, Scott Mayfield, Pierre Engvall and Semyon Varlamov will be islanders for a very long time. Let’s go through the details.
The contracts
Islanders sign:
• Ilya Sorokin receives an eight-year extension with an AAV of US$8.25 million.
• Pierre Engvall signed a seven-year contract with a $3 million AAV.
• Scott Mayfield signed a seven-year contract with an AAV of $3.5 million.
• Semyon Varlamov signed to a four-year contract with an AAV of $2.75 million.
Ilya Sorokin
Dom Luszczyszyn: It’s not often that I praise a goalkeeper contract that’s big money, has a long term and was signed a year early. But there are always exceptions to the rule, and this is absolutely one of them.
Sorokin is one of the absolute best goaltenders in the world, someone to look out for every season, and the main reason the Islanders are a playoff-level team in the first place. He signed for 9.9 percent of the salary cap, which is well below Carey Price (14 percent), Sergei Bobrovsky (12.3 percent) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (11.7 percent). It’s clear that teams were wrong, but given Sorokin’s good performance, it feels like an overcorrection. Add in an increasing cap and this could be one of the better deals signed today.
Contract note: A
Sean Gentille: Sorokin earns “The Big Deal” more than anyone in today’s game due to his age, performance and fitness. If you don’t like that for the Islanders, you’re constitutionally opposed to giving goalies money or a prison sentence. Given the volatility that comes with the position and the glaring mistakes we’ve seen over the past few years, that’s understandable — but it’s not entirely true. If you have someone who is ultra-elite – Vasilevskiy and Prime Price come to mind – swipe the check.
Sorokin has become one of those guys over the past two seasons. His better-than-expected rate of 51.36 in the 2022–23 season was the second-highest in stats history, surpassed only by Henrik Lundqvist in 2009–10. If an experienced workhorse doesn’t get the sack, who will?
Contract note: A
Pierre Engvall
Luszczyszyn: Engvall is a fascinating player. He did a lot of things well, a real jack of all trades who was unfairly reviled in Toronto. He’s really blossomed with the Islanders and found his way, but it feels like the Islanders are paying for a percent cheek because the Islanders were scoring 5.18 goals per 60 with Engvall on the ice. However, Engvall only scored a point on 38 percent of those goals.
Anyway, Engvall is a nice player and he fits in really well with the Islanders.
But.
SEVEN YEARS?!
At that point, Engvall should be nearing $1.7 million, having priced in its demise. Instead, he got $3 million, which is already more than he was worth on day one. Maybe he’s worth it if his role expands. Perhaps. But given the length of the deal, it seems like an absolutely ludicrous bet.
contract class:D+
Gentille: I was tempted to be an adversary here because $3 million a year for Engvall seems… fine. Not good. Not terrible. A slight overpayment maybe, but he looked good in a side that needed a player of his type.
The term is where it falls apart. Engvall is already 27 years old and just the kind of player that you can find with a little extra work that stays on the market after about a week each off-season. In great squads there are a few Pierre Engvalls who make half what he makes in a seventh of his current tenure. This deal is not a disaster; There are very few $3 million deals. Also, there’s no point in pretending it’s, you know, a good thing.
contract class:D+
Scott Mayfield. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Scott Mayfield
Luszczyszyn: As far as top four defenders go, a team could do a lot worse than Mayfield, who is 6’1″ and 225 pounds. Big boy hockey is trending and it fits the bill. He’s a classic shutdown guy with oversized defensive power – a strong part of the Islanders’ identity. He’s worth $3.5 million right now, and that’s exactly what he’s got.
The problem with paying these guys is always one of time, and in this case it’s a big problem. Seven years is a long time for a 30-year-old shutdown defense attorney, and Mayfield’s value is falling rapidly as the deal grows. People can talk about the cap increasing at will, but it doesn’t increase as the value of a 30-year shutdown defender on the ice decreases. There’s a balance to be struck, which isn’t reached here, and at this point, something close to $2.5 million would have been far more palatable.
It’s not a disaster, but it will almost certainly be towards the end.
contract class: C
Gentille: After the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup with a string of really great defenders, no upcoming UFA seemed better poised to make money than Mayfield. Yes, he’s pretty big – but he’s also pretty good and has been underestimated time and time again in recent years. Put him on a second pair with a good puck mover and you should be good to go. Such guys usually cost more than $3.5 million a season.
The reason for this is simple: such people usually only sign after seven years. Mayfield is a good pick to live up to his contract for a while, especially with the cap increasing by $9 million to $10 million over the next few years. It might get worse when he’s in his mid-30s, but the overall result probably won’t be bad.
contract class: B-
Semyon Varlamov
Luszczyszyn: Sorokin has been captivating all the press for the last two years, but behind him Varlamov was generally great in a supporting role. A save percentage of .913 and 11.5 goals saved above expectations in 54 games? That’s a good thing and helps the Islanders not bring their best player to their knees.
If there’s a problem here, it’s the same problem as anywhere else: term! Varlamov is 35 and as good as he is now, who knows what he’ll be in four years’ time – especially in the most unpredictable position. A $2.75 million cap isn’t bad now, but it could end up being hard to digest.
contract class: B-
Gentille: If you think Sorokin is the franchise, you should probably be okay with Varlamov signing that deal. He and Sorokin have a strong bond and obviously work well together. Varlamov has had a save rate of .911 or better in each of the last four seasons and has kept more than seven goals above expectations in 23 appearances last season.
He’s 35 now, which makes the tenure a little less than ideal, but we’ve seen goalkeepers maintain their level of play for longer in recent years. If you want a good backup, even if you have a top starter who can play 60 games a season, it costs that much.
contract class: C+
overall grades
Luszczyszyn: C+. The plus is for Sorokin.
Gentille: C+. These are the islanders in miniature; They took a bunch of guys off a fringe playoff team and paid them a lot of money for a couple of years. Just like it always was – and Sorokin, as always, makes the whole mess look a little better.
(Top Photo by Ilya Sorokin and Scott Mayfield: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)