One-year contract emerges for Patrick Laine and the Islanders but there's a holdup
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Patrik Laine is still a free agent on July 25, and the reason has less to do with his health than with the only contract shape available to him.
The New York Islanders spoke with Laine's camp when free agency opened, though beat reporter Stefen Rosner reported they were never willing to go beyond a professional tryout.
Rosner also said he does not expect general manager Mathieu Darche to circle back, pointing to a forward group already full of bodies.
That has traveled as a simple power play story. The real obstacle sits in the collective bargaining agreement.
The one-year trap
Laine qualifies for performance bonuses through the injury route, which requires 400 or more career games and at least 100 days on injured reserve last season.
There is a catch that almost nobody is mentioning. That eligibility only exists on a one-year contract.
So the structure that lowers his base salary also guarantees the signing team cannot keep the upside.
A club pays for his rehabilitation season, and a 30-goal Laine walks back into free agency at 29 with real leverage.
Why the Islanders keep hesitating
New York carries roughly $3 million in projected cap space against the $104 million ceiling, per PuckPedia, with 13 forwards already under contract.
Head coach Peter DeBoer inherits a power play that converted at 16.5 percent last season, last in the league.
Laine would help that unit tomorrow, and the Islanders went 43-34-5 while missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight spring.
None of that changes the arithmetic. Darche would be funding a bounce-back year that someone else gets to sign.
Tampa Bay has been connected to Laine for the same reason, per Pro Hockey Rumors.
That is why six bonus-eligible veterans are still unsigned in late July, and why the tryout keeps getting offered instead of a contract.
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