NY Islander center Casey Cizikas set to hit 900 game milestone

When Casey Cizikas laces up his skates for the Islanders on Monday afternoon at UBS Arena, it won’t just be another game — it will be his 900th in the NHL, all on Long Island.

For more than a decade, Cizikas, who famously said he was going to "die an Islander" after signing his six-year contract extension in 2021, has embodied the identity of the team throughout his career — relentless, selfless, and proud to do the hard work that doesn’t always make the highlight reels. Drafted in the fourth round in 2009,

Cizikas debuted in 2011-12 and quickly earned a reputation as one of the league’s most tenacious bottom-six forwards. His combination of speed, defensive reliability, and physical play has made him a fixture on Long Island through coaching changes, playoff runs, and roster overhauls.

“He’s the face in here,” teammate Ryan Pulock said after Sunday's practice. “He’s been grinding every single night — blocking shots, battling, whatever it takes to help the team win. He’s an energy bug, always smiling, always laughing. He just embodies what it means to be an Islander.”

Head coach Patrick Roy echoed that sentiment, calling Cizikas’s milestone a reflection of consistency and professionalism. “Great accomplishment,” Roy said. “I’m sure he’s pretty proud of himself, but for a guy that night after night, you know exactly what you’re going to get from him — energy, and a guy that will work and be very resilient in his work. So I have just good things to say about him.”

Cizikas’s value has rarely been measured in goals or assists. His defensive reliability, penalty-killing prowess, and relentless forecheck have defined the Islanders’ bottom six and established a tone of accountability across the locker room.

“Nine hundred games — that’s a lot of hockey,” Pulock added. “He’s earned every single one of them.” In an age of short tenures and constant change, Casey Cizikas stands as a model of loyalty and longevity — a player who’s never needed the spotlight to make his mark on Long Island.

In an era when players move constantly, Cizikas’s career is a rare story of longevity and loyalty. He may not have a captain’s ‘C’ stitched on his chest, but he’s been part of the Islanders’ heartbeat for years — and 900 games later, that hasn’t changed.