The Islanders may have a real cap decision on their hands, and it all traces back to Alex Jefferies.
Jefferies’ filing for salary arbitration earlier this month looked unusual at first glance. He was coming off consecutive 29-point seasons in the AHL and has not made his NHL debut, so he was not the kind of player you’d expect to trigger that process.
But once he filed, the Islanders gained a second buyout window. Now that Jefferies has agreed to a new contract, GM Mathieu Darche has to decide whether to use it.
That window opens early in the week and lasts only 48 hours.
For most of the summer, New York has moved quietly. The Islanders added winger Matias Maccelli, defenseman Matthew Kessel, and goalie Vitek Vanecek in free agency, though Kessel and Vanecek are more depth pieces than everyday fixtures.
Maccelli steps in for Max Shabanov, who was non-tendered to avoid salary arbitration rights and eventually signed in Minnesota. The club also brought back defenseman Tony DeAngelo on a two-year deal.
That modest level of activity might look odd for a team that missed the playoffs last season, but the cap picture explains a lot of it. Even after the limited additions, the Islanders are projected to sit at less than $3MM under the Upper Limit to begin next season, according to PuckPedia. There simply isn’t much room to maneuver.
A big reason for that squeeze comes from Darche’s midseason work. The Islanders used LTIR to bring in Ondrej Palat and Brayden Schenn, and because neither player was on an expiring contract, the summer was always going to be tight - even with the salary cap rising by $8.5MM.
What’s left should be enough to cover injury recalls during the season and maybe one more depth pickup. Not much more than that.
If the Islanders want to create real breathing room, the second buyout window offers one path. Only players who were on the roster at the trade deadline and carry a cap hit of $4MM or more are eligible. That rules out Anthony Duclair, who is at $3.5MM, and Pierre Engvall, who is at $3MM.
Among the 11 eligible players on the roster, only one stands out as a realistic buyout candidate: Palat.
The numbers tell the story. Palat was ineffective offensively with the Devils and didn’t fare any better after the trade to the Islanders, scoring just once in 29 games. For a forward making that kind of money, that’s a thin return.
He has one year left on a deal that carries a $6MM cap hit. Because the contract was slightly front-loaded, his 2026-27 salary sits at $4.95MM.
A buyout would spread two-thirds of that over two years, leaving the Islanders with a $1.65MM cap hit in both 2026-27 and 2027-28. In the short term, that would create $4.35MM in savings for next season, while adding $1.65MM in dead money the following year.
That extra space could matter. It would give New York room to chase some of the remaining free-agent forwards, including Vladimir Tarasenko, Michael Bunting, and Eeli Tolvanen, all of whom project to offer more offense than Palat.
Second buyout windows usually pass without much drama. They’re rarely used. But this one gives Darche a genuine chance to reshape the roster, and the Islanders now have a few days to decide whether to take it or stay put.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Just Sent A Strong Message About Jet Greaves
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For New York, that kind of decision point is part of the larger picture around young talent, especially when another Eastern Conference club is making its own statement on a promising goalie. Columbus just locked up Jet Greaves on a three-year extension after a significant financial gap was bridged in negotiations, a reminder that teams are willing to act decisively when they believe they have found a piece worth keeping. The Islanders will be watching their own prospect pipeline just as closely, because the line between patience and promotion can change quickly once camp opens. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Fans Just Turned This Jersey Contest Into Franchise History
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Now comes the harder part: narrowing that mountain of ideas down to five finalists. However the club sorts through the entries, whether with technology, human review or a mix of both, the process is about to move from open-ended creativity to a much tighter race, and those five designs will eventually go to a final fan vote to decide the jersey. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Is Already Entering An Elite Team Canada Conversation
Matthew Schaefer is already showing up in some pretty lofty company. NHL.coms early projection for the 2027 NHL All-Star Game has the Islanders defenseman on Team Canadas radar, a notable nod for a young player whose profile is still rising. The event is set for Feb. 5-6, 2027, at UBS Arena, and the format will bring together five international teams in front of a Long Island crowd that knows Schaefer well.
The projection is only a snapshot, of course, with fan voting still to come later in the season and plenty of room for the picture to change. Even so, being mentioned this early in a Team Canada conversation says something about how Schaefer is being viewed around the league, especially when the names around him are the kind that usually define those rosters. For the Islanders, it is another reminder that one of their most important young pieces is already being discussed on a much bigger stage. [Read more 🡒]