Islanders Sign RFA F Kieffer Bellows to a One-Year Contract Extension
It's been a busy day for the Islanders' GM, signing all three of their remaining restricted free agents. After failing to land a single UFA, Lamoriello has shored up his loose ends and has his team heading into 2022-23.
The New York Islanders announced today they have signed F Kieffer Bellows to a one-year, $1.2 million contract extension:
Bellows, 24, has 25 points in 67 NHL games and has not cracked the Islanders lineup full-time yet. He played a career-best 45 games in 2021-22, managing 6g-13a-19pts. The Isles' 2016 19th overall pick has scored at a decent enough clip, but his all-around game is a serious work-in-progress:
Bellows will be a restricted free agent upon expiry, but if he can't become a full-time contributor this season, I suspect the Islanders will move on from him.
The Islanders currently have $7 million after Bellows and Romanov's signings, with Dobson's cap-hit still to be uncovered. The Islanders will field a very similar group in '22-23 to the one that missed the playoffs last year, but Lamoriello clearly believes last season was an outlier, and he has faith in his group to contend again. Time will tell, but I think they need to add another piece or two up front in order to sharpen their offense, which was often flat last season. Maybe Bellows can grow into a consistent scorer for them, but his two-way play needs improvement, no question.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||