The Islanders have been heavily scouting Swiss free agent defenseman Andrea Glauser and are expected to pursue him aggressively this offseason, reports Emmanuel Favre Montreal of LeMatin.ch. Albeit via translation, Montreal reports both GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Patrick Roy have personally scouted Glauser this season, and a source told him the Isles could offer a contract as rich as $1.5MM on a one-year deal, unusually high for an undrafted free agent that hasn’t had much other documented NHL interest.
Glauser, who turned 28 last week, is a transition-minded defender with a rather physical game. He’s spent the entirety of his professional career in the Swiss National League, playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron and SCL Tigers before landing with Lausanne HC in 2021. He’s served as an alternate captain there for all three years of his tenure, and his 2023-24 campaign is still ongoing as they’re alive in the semifinals of the NL playoffs.
His point totals have never jumped off the page. He posted four goals and 16 points in 47 regular-season games this season, in line with his 0.31 career point-per-game average in the NL. He’s become somewhat of a mainstay on the Swiss national team in his prime, though, appearing for the country in back-to-back World Championships. The 6’0″ right-shot blue-liner has never taken home any major pieces of hardware at home or internationally.
Glauser is too old for an entry-level contract, so the Isles would need to offer him a standard deal, eliminating the potential for performance bonuses and meaning all his money is guaranteed. The willingness to offer him $1.5MM on a contract suggests it would be a one-way agreement, too, offering them no cash discount if he’s assigned to the minors. That cap hit is above the buried threshold of $1.15MM, too, meaning he’d still cost the Islanders $350K against the cap if sent to the AHL.
The Isles’ transition game from their defensemen has suffered with the slight declines of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, although Noah Dobson’s emergence as a top-15 defender has quieted some of those worries. Glauser would likely replace veteran Robert Bortuzzo, a pending UFA, as the fourth right-shot defenseman on their depth chart behind Dobson, Pulock and Scott Mayfield.