May 18, 2024 | 12:41pm ET
By Anthony LaRocco, TheFourthPeriod.com
ISLANDERS LAND TOP EUROPEAN FREE AGENT TSYPLAKOV
Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello
NEW YORK, NY - While the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is in full swing that saw the Islanders cross town rival, the New York Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Final, Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello kicked off the off-season for his team by signing the top European Free Agent and KHL star Maxim Tsyplakov to a one-year, entry-level contract.
Tsyplakov, 25, had a career-high 31 goals playing for Moscow Spartak in the KHL last season, good for fourth in the league. The 6’2, 189lb Russian forward had interest from at least 12 NHL teams before eventually deciding to sign with the Islanders.
One of the Islanders priorities this off-season was to add some skill to the top-six, a group that often struggled to score goals outside of top forwards Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.
With the Islanders lacking in high-end prospects in their system, adding a 25-year-old skilled scoring winger could be a big boost to their outlook in the coming years, especially if Tsyplakov can bring the type of jolt that fellow Russian Andrei Kuzmenko brought to the Vancouver Canucks. After joining the Canucks as an undrafted free agent out of the KHL, Kuzmenko scored 39 goals and 74 points in his first year playing in the NHL. If Tsyplakov can have a similar impact on the Islanders next season that would certainly help a group that finished 22nd in the league with 245 goals-for.
While adding Tsyplakov is a low-risk, high-reward potential for the Islanders, Lamoriello’s work has only begun. It is believed that Lamoriello will be in the market this summer for a proven goal-scorer as he looks to reshape his roster in efforts to get the team back closer to the level they were at when they made back-to-back Conference finals appearances in 2020 and 2021.
To do so, a higher dollar salary such as veteran J-G Pageau could be moved this off-season to create more cap space to bring in that ever elusive sniper the Islanders certainly need.
For now, the addition of Tsyplakov at this point in the off-season is a good start if you are an Islanders fan.