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New York Islanders Robin Lehner Contract Confusion

By Matt O'Leary

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 28: Robin Lehner #40 of the New York Islanders prepares to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 28, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hurricanes defeated the Islanders 2-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 28: Robin Lehner #40 of the New York Islanders prepares to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 28, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Hurricanes defeated the Islanders 2-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The New York Islanders and Robin Lehner could not come to a contract agreement in one of the more head-scratching situations of free agency.

After the season, both the New York Islanders and Robin Lehner made it pretty clear that they wanted a reunion. Somewhere along the way over the past month, there was a miscommunication of sorts because Lehner is no longer a New York Islander.

Robin Lehner signed a one-year $5 million deal with the Blackhawks but allegedly turned down a two-year $10 million deal with the Islanders. So, what went wrong?

Well, according to Lehner, it took a month and a half after the season for the negotiations to start. At first, he wanted something with more term, like anyone, but when he found out something with more term wasn’t available he told the media he would take anything just to make it work.

At that point, it seemed to be too late. Lehner explains that he was given an ultimatum and when he came back with a response they already moved on to somebody else.

I don’t love that Lou Lamoriello gave such a hard ultimatum and moved on after a couple of days but at the same time, I feel like Lehner probably could’ve communicated a little better. I think both sides are at fault here a little bit on this one.

At the end of the day, the Islanders gave the term and the same AAV to a 31-year-old Semyon Varlamov who is coming off a down year. While I don’t believe he is as good as Robin Lehner, he does have a connection to Ilya Sorokin.

It’s sad to see Lehner go, especially when it seems like he really wanted to stay. Free Agency is a tough business, and Lehner fell victim yesterday.

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