The New York Islanders have been enjoying Kyle Okposo’s services at a bargain price, but now that he’s entering the last season of his five-year, $14 million deal, his time with the Islanders might be drawing to a close.
His agent, Pat Brisson, and Islanders GM Garth Snow only engaged in brief talks about an extension that didn’t go anywhere, per Newsday. There’s still plenty of time for the two sides to figure something out, but it would be very bad if the Islanders ended up letting him walk without getting anything in return and it’s that reality that will fuel trade speculation unless a new contract is signed.
It’s also forced Okposo to wonder about his future.
“It’s pretty hard not to when you go somewhere and everyone’s asking you whether you’re going to be traded or not,” he said. “It’s part of the business and I’m not naive to that. There’s a lot of moving parts.
“Am I upset about it? No. There’s things that upset you on a daily basis in this business and you just have to go with it. As far as contracts, trade speculation, I don’t want that to be a distraction. I just want to go out and play the game.”
Although Okposo took a fair amount of time to breakout, the 27-year-old did just that in 2013-14 when he recorded 69 points in 71 contests. He missed some time last season due to a detached retina, but when he was healthy he added credibility to the idea that he was now a major scoring threat.
Barring a disastrous 2015-16, he should have no trouble getting a major pay raise. The bigger question is if it will be the Islanders that provide him with it.
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