The New York Islanders announced they have added another depth player today, signing forward Tom Kuhnhackl to a one-year deal. Terms have not been announced yet.
The 26-year-old spent the past three seasons with Pittsburgh in a fourth line role. Last season, he played in a career-high 69 games but his production dropped to a career-low eight points. He was also held off the scoresheet in a dozen postseason contests. Despite that, the Penguins had offered him a two-year contract extension prior to the qualifying offer deadline last Monday but after they weren’t able to come to terms, the team opted to non-tender him instead of running the risk of him filing for salary arbitration.
With the Islanders, Kuhnhackl will likely reprise the role he had with Pittsburgh and serve in a penalty killing/checking role. New York has been active in trying to fill out their roster since receiving the news that John Tavares wouldn’t be returning and since they’ve added some depth now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to take a running at adding another top-six forward in the days to come.
The official replacement for Tavares
Much cheaper too.
Islanders will be fine. Easy to replace 80pts