Islanders Sunday Slapshots: Gatcomb Signs, Tsyplakov News, Pageau Talk

The dead of the summer is beginning to set in across the hockey world. For the New York Islanders, a quiet summer would be exactly what the organization needs.

Now, the Islanders can finally breathe, from the top down. There are some smaller bits of business to get done, but for the most part, the roster is finished in terms of building.

Now, the Islanders settle in for a long summer. The NHL schedule comes out in just over a week.

Gatcomb Signs:

The Islanders are down to one RFA. Marc Gatcomb signed a one-year, $900,000 contract this morning.

Gatcomb, 25, scored eight goals and nine points over his 39 games in the NHL after getting his first NHL call-up midway through the season.

Gatcomb’s signing comes as no true surprise. All along, this would be an easy contract to get done for New York. Gatcomb is not waiver exempt, which is something to monitor in September.

Tsyplakov Arbitration:

Signing Maxim Tsyplakov to a new contract remains the biggest piece of business left for the Islanders.

Tsyplakov, 26, scored 10 goals and 35 points over his first 77 NHL games, along with some sparkling analytics. The decision to file for arbitration isn’t exactly a shock, as most players with rights tend to file for it. The only shock is that he isn’t signed after Islanders’ GM Mathieu Darche indicated he was close to signing all of his RFAs.

Arbitration won’t happen until August, and it would be shocking if it got to that point. Tsyplakov’s filing also opens a second buyout window for the Islanders. After he signs or arbitration settles the dispute, it triggers the second window, but New York won’t use it. Pierre Engvall, who would be the only candidate, is not eligible due to his lower $3 million AAV.

Pageau Chatter was All Smoke, No Fire:

Elliotte Friedman revealed on his podcast, 32 Thoughts, that the Islanders never seriously considered dealing Jean-Gabriel Pageau at any point this past month.

Though there was plenty of league-wide interest, the Islanders really like their center depth and did not want to disturb that.

“There was one team out there that was adamant the Islanders wanted to keep [Pageau]. Every time there was a rumor out there, [the team] would check in, and the Islanders would say, ‘No, we’re not doing it.'”

Pageau, 32, scored 14 goals and 42 points over 79 games, along with winning 59.6% of his face-offs, good for second-best in the entire NHL.

Pageau becomes a UFA at the end of this upcoming season. If the Islanders’ season goes the way of 2024-25, Pageau becomes a highly sought-after target. For now, the Islanders keep the status quo.

Heineman, a Major Islanders’ Target:

Friedman also shed light on the team specifically targeting Emil Heineman in the Noah Dobson trade.

“Dobson wanted to go to Montreal, but I heard the Islanders really wanted Heineman. The reason is that if you look at their history, they had that identity Line, right? Well, [Matt] Martin’s gone and [Cal] Clutterbuck’s gone, like, those are both great players, huge parts of that team who are now retired. They still have [Casey] Cizikas. I think they felt that Heineman could bring them a little bit of that. And they thought that was important for them.”

Additionally, Heineman brings that energy as an exceptional skater, and he possesses legitimate scoring skill. He scored 10 goals and 18 points in 62 games, missing time after getting hit by a car.

IslesDen on X put together an excellent compilation of Heineman’s best moments, and I highly recommend you watch it in its entirety:

https://x.com/IslesDen/status/1939059666509873534

By all accounts, Heineman is a slam-dunk acquisition, someone who can entrench himself into the Islanders’ DNA and become a fan favorite.