TSN: David Pagnotta on TSN Montreal 690 radio on Monday when asked if he thinks Nazem Kadri has a contract with the New York Islanders and that it will get announced eventually, or that Kadri will be signing somewhere else.
“Seven-year contract for Nazem Kadri with the Islanders. They’ll announce that soon. And by soon it could be a couple weeks because it is the Islanders. But I’ve got no doubts that he will not be with the Islanders. They pretty much have that set in. It’s a formality from what I’ve heard. Just paperwork and making sure the monies and dollars and cents all fit from a cap perspective.
It’s not just Nazem Kadri that the Islanders have been working on. They’ve been doing some internal housekeeping as well with respect to Noah Dobson, Alex Romanov, who they obviously got from the Habs. There are going to be some other pieces here that are going to factor in once they make their big announcement.
Kieffer Bellows another RFA. I believe he has a deal in place. Nothing is officially signed with their RFAs. Again, got to make sure everything is there and the money works and everything.
They may have to move out a body. They’re trying to see if they can fit everything in. I think they’re at the $11.5, maybe $12 million in cap space max. In order to make all these signings and get everything in there, they’ve got to make sure all the dollars and cents work.
So, it’s been difficult for the Islanders and Lou Lamoriello to move out some money without having to really incentvize things. Josh Bailey‘s name has been out there for a while but my understanding is that if they want to move him, they’re going to have to add something to it, for a team to take on basically two years left at $5 million AAV.
So, they’re trying to maneauver it, but in terms of Kadri and the Islanders, I think that’s set. I believe it’s going to be a seven-year contract, it’s just a matter of when they make that announcement. I’m not to sure.
They’re also working on, they’ve got Mat Barzal. We talk about Pastrnak with one year left. Barzal one year left as well. Working on that too.”