New York Islanders rumors: Anders Lee extension talks update

On the latest 31 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman gave his thoughts on the extension talks between the New York Islanders and captain Anders Lee. 

Last season, the New York Islanders dealt with a circus because their captain John Tavares was a lame duck playing with an uncertain future. This season, captain Anders Lee is facing a similar situation. The reason nobody’s talking about it is Lou Lamoriello, the king of tight lips and silence, is in charge of the front office.

Lee will be a free agent after the 2018-19 season unless the Islanders can work out an extension with him. By all accounts, both the team and the player are interested in getting something done. However, it’s the end of February and Lee hasn’t signed his name on a contract yet.

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During the latest 31 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman gave an update to the talks between the Islanders and their captain. This update occurs around the 39:50 mark of the podcast.

“The one I’ve heard about Lee is the Islanders are concerned about the term. That’s all I’ve heard. No questions about the player or the willingness to keep him, it’s all about the term on him.”

The Islanders wouldn’t have made Lee a captain if they weren’t extremely confident they could keep him around long-term. They didn’t want a fiasco like the Tavares situation to happen again. But Lee becomes a free agent in roughly four months. A lot can change in four months.

If you’re an Islanders fan, you have to start wondering what’s going on. Losing Tavares was heartbreaking enough. But losing your captain two years in a row? Especially after the Islanders have worked so hard since Lamoriello joined to regain their reputation? It would be devastating.

For fans, the hard part of having Lamoriello as the general manager is you’re not going to hear about what’s going to happen before it happens. When he was in Toronto, nobody knew the Dion Phaneuf trade Ottawa happened until it did. The Maple Leafs signed Patrick Marleau, one of the biggest free agents at the time, and there wasn’t so much as a whisper of it before it happened.

Lamoriello is a man who tends to get what he wants. So expect Lee and the Islanders to agree on something. They didn’t even talk about trading him at the deadline, which is promising. But if something doesn’t get worked out soon, the Islanders have something to worry about.