New York Islanders Sign Jordan Eberle Five-Year Extension

The New York Islanders surprised us all by inking Jordan Eberle to a five-year deal with an AAV of $5.5 million. Lou Lamoriello strikes again.

Jordan Eberle is still a New York Islander. Lou Lamoriello surprised us all by having his New York Islanders sign Jordan Eberle to a five-year deal worth $27.5 million ($5.5 million AAV). This deal came as a major shock.

Everyone was talking about Anders Lee and Robin Lehner so much so that Jordan Eberle became an afterthought and it was assumed that he would hit the open market on July 1. It was also assumed that the Isles could likely only afford one of Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle.

That is no longer the case. Eberle took a discounted deal. His previous deal came with a $6 million cap hit and now that will be reduced by $500,000 over the next five years.

This past season was a weird one for Jordan Eberle. He started ridiculously slow. He played 78 games this year and through the first 71 games, he had only 31 points and 14 goals. Well off his normal pace that we were used to.

Over the next seven games, Eberle would score five goals with one assist in order to finish his season with 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists). Eberle’s hot streak also carried into the playoffs where he had a goal in four straight games against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This goal in Game 2 would turn out to be the game-winning goal sending the Islanders to Pittsburgh with a 2-0 series lead and the momentum on their side.

The Islanders are banking on Jordan Eberle to be the player he once was and if he goes back to that 50-60 point player that we know he can be at $5.5 million that is phenomenal value. At 29 years old, this deal will take him through his age 33 season.

It’s reasonable to believe that Eberle could get back to being a 25 goal player and someone you could pencil in for 50 points before the season starts. What’s great about this deal is that it gives the Islanders flexibility to do other moves too like bringing back Anders Lee and Robin Lehner, and hopefully another addition to the top-six in addition to Eberle coming back.

Don’t confuse this, it’s great that Eberle is back on a team friendly deal but Lou can’t be done. He has to continue to add talent to this roster and today was a good start.