Islanders: Lou Lamoriello’s Bargain Shopping Yielding Results

Lou Lamoriello has signed some great low-value contracts in his time with the New York Islanders. But what has been even more impressive than the low relative cost of these deals has been the production they have yielded.

Signing dark horse players to low value contracts was not expected to be Lou Lamoriello’s strong suit when he first joined the New York Islanders. I, at least, didn’t think it would be one of the shining points of Lou’s early Islanders career. Yet, it kinda has been.

Last year, with 31 points at a $2.75 million total salary, (bonuses and salary included) Valtteri Filppula cost Lou and the Islanders $88,709 per point. For reference, the best contract in the NHL last season (excluding entry-level deals) was Nikita Kucherov‘s absurdly team-friendly deal. His 128 points for a $5.550 million total salary gave the Lightning a point for every $44,359 spent.

This year, Lou went bargain hunting again in free agency and found Derick Brassard. Through 19 games Brassard has posted 15 points while being especially effective with linemates Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson. With a total salary of $1.20 million, Brassard is costing the Islanders $80,000 per point thus far in 2019-20.

Devon Toews has been another of Lou’s great signings. Toews signed a two-year, $1.4 million contract last July that paid out $650,000 in its initial year. Toews’ 2018-19 cost-per-point was a very affordable $36,111 per point. This year, Toews’ total salary has risen to $750,000 and he already has 11 points, which equals $68,181 per point.

Another of Lou’s excellent cost-per-point deals from last year was that of Ryan Pulock. Pulock’s salary totaled $1.35 million last season. With 37 points in 2018-19, the Dauphin, Manitoba native cost the Islanders $36,486 per point. An absolute steal for one of last year’s most solid Islanders blue liners.

This year, Anthony Beauvillier seems poised to be another steal for the Islanders. Beauvillier signed a two-year, $4.2 million contract this August, with a total salary of $1.8 million owed this season.

Beauvillier already has 14 points this season, half of his total from last season. He’s currently costing the Islanders $128,571 per point. That number is due to come way down by season’s end if Beau can keep on this pace.

All told, Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders are utilizing the bang-for-buck philosophy maybe better than any team in the NHL right now.

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All salary and statistical numbers used in this article are from Hockey Reference and Capfriendly. They’re readily available to anyone, and they’re both sites worth checking out for any interested parties.