As we knew after the hire, Islanders General Manager would have a lot of pending free agents to tend to. He had started to get some deals done. Though unconfirmed, Elliotte Friedman believes these deals were agreed to before Darche was hired, but we’ll never know.
Kyle Palmieri signed a 2-year deal carrying a $4.75 Million AAV, closely aligned with his previous deals AAV of $5 million. Palmieri has been a key part of the Islanders success since he was acquired in 2021 from New Jersey, he has been a guy the Islanders can rely on, and he will continue to be a guy who will play a role in the top-six as well as on the power play and penalty kill. Both areas the Islanders need to improve on next season.
Adam Boqvist was claimed off waivers from the Panthers during the season, and got some run with the Islanders and looked pretty good. Darche said in his introductory presser that the Islanders need defensemen who can skate and who can move the puck. Boqvist fits both of those categories, and seemingly will play a part on the Islanders blueline next season. And an AAV of $850k for a defenseman who could quarterback a power play unit? Yeah, that’ll play.
BS Reports 
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