NY Islanders Forward Expected to Test the Market in Free Agency

Which player from the New York Islanders could be headed toward free agency?

Feb 26, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; View of a New York Islanders logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during the third period at Bell Centre. / David Kirouac-Imagn Images

As free agency gets set to start for the New York Islanders, the team is going to have their work cut out for themselves with some important things to address. 

Coming off a good year in which the Islanders exceeded most expectations, the goal now for the team will be to get better. New York might have gotten a bit lucky to win the NHL Lottery in 2025 and land Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick. However, that has also sped up what was looking like it was going to be a bit of a rebuild. 

Now, with head coach Peter DeBoer coming in, expectations for the 2026-27 campaign will be high. He certainly didn’t come in to coach a team that wasn’t going to be a contender, and while New York is heading in the right direction, there is still work to be done. 

With free agency getting set to start in a couple of days, the Islanders will be hoping to make some moves to improve. However, doing so is going to be very challenging with their cap space right about $6 million right now. Furthermore, with cap space limited, that could result in the team having to make a tough decision on a key player in soon-to-be free agent Anders Lee. 

Lee Expected to Test the Market

Believe the #Isles & Anders Lee's camp still remain apart on term with 2 days to go before free agency opens.

There's still time before July 1 to work something out, but my expectation is Lee tests the market.

Can reassess after. See what offers he gets elsewhere.

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) June 29, 2026

Per Rosner, while the two sides have engaged in talks, there doesn’t appear to be anything imminent. For Lee, it seems as if he will be heading to free agency, and it will be interesting to see what his value might be. 

Last season, he totaled 42 points with 19 goals and 23 assists. It was the first time since the 2020-21 campaign that he scored fewer than 20 goals in a season, and at his age, Father Time might be creeping in. 

However, as the captain of the Islanders and a player that they drafted in 2009, keeping him is still something that the franchise would like to do. Due to the cap being tight right now, the Islanders are going to have to hope that a market doesn’t really develop for him. 

It is going to be challenging for the team to clear more cap space with numerous bad contracts on the books. While he might not be the same caliber of player he once was, he is still an important part of the franchise, and signing him is likely a main priority for the team.