Islanders: Derick Brassard Received Offers From Europe

Islanders forward, Derick Brassard has received offers to take his talents to Europe. He’s not ready to make the switch though.

Last year, late into the offseason, the Islanders signed Derick Brassard on a cheap one-year deal to fill the Islanders third-line center role. While his point production looks good on paper, the decision didn’t really pan out for Lou Lamoriello.

Brassard put up 32 points on the season but 17 of them came before the month of November came to an end, and a majority of that time was spent with him playing on the wing on the second line.

That means over the final 43 games, Brassard had just 15 points to his name. The 32-year-old vet struggled playing center, so much so that Lou Lamoriello was forced to trade multiple draft assets to bring in JG Pageau.

It was the right call, but to boast about Brassard’s 32 points would be fairly misguided based on the entirety of his season and the context surrounding it.

According to leDroit, Brassard has received numerous offers to play the 2021 season in Europe. He has yet to receive an NHL contract, but Derick Brassard isn’t ready to call it quits at the NHL level.

Last year, he didn’t sign until August 14 at it looks like he’s going to have to play the waiting game again this year. With big-name free agents like Mike Hoffman still on the table due to the cap restraints, he’s going to have to be patient.

For the Islanders, it doesn’t make much sense to bring him back in 2021. Let him test the market and let someone like Oliver Wahlstrom take over on the wing with JG Pageau.

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The Isles love their veterans though, so would it really surprise anyone if Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz decided to kick the can down the road for another season? With all the team has left to do before the start of the season, Brassard is very low on the list of priorities.