The Islanders and blueliner Calvin de Haan went right down to the wire.
Just hours before their arbitration hearing on Wednesday, the two sides agreed to a one-year, $3.3 million deal, per TSN. The contract comes after Sportsnet reported de Haan’s initial ask was $5 million, while the Isles offered $1.95M.
De Haan, 26, is coming off a solid campaign in which he posted career highs in games played (82), goals (five), assists (20) and points (25). He averaged just under 20 minutes per night, but that TOI figure is expected to increase following Travis Hamonic’s trade to Calgary last month.
“Calvin is a home-grown product of the organization and has developed into one of our top defenseman during his time with the organization,” Isles GM Garth Snow said in a release. “He plays important minutes for our club and we’re excited to have him back for one more year.”
In the short term, this deal is a win for the Isles. It’s a more than affordable cap figure for a defenseman that logs the kind of minutes de Haan does, and makes for a very cost-effective blueline group. Snow now has just $21 million locked into eight guys for next season: de Haan, Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Thomas Hickey, Adam Pelech, Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield.
In the long term, though, this contract could come back to bite.
De Haan will be an unrestricted free agent next July and, should he put forth another solid campaign, will likely be looking for a long-term deal (possibly around the $5 million per mark requested in arbitration). That could be too rich for the Isles’ blood, especially if the John Tavares extension gets done.
That could create a scenario where de Haan is twisting in the wind all season, right up to the trade deadline. Then the conversation turns to where the Isles are at -- if they’re in go-for-it mode, Snow would presumably keep de Haan and risk losing him for nothing at the end of the year.