How much cap space do the Islanders have in the 2024 NHL offseason?

The New York Islanders are one of those teams who aren’t good enough to be a perennial playoff team despite their late-season surge in 2024 and third-place finish in the Metropolitan. But they also aren’t bad enough to where fans would lament that the next few seasons will be long ones.

Instead, if general manager Lou Lamoriello made just a few changes to the current group and brought in one big-time scoring player, their immediate fortunes would change for the best. Unfortunately, there is one major roadblock: cap space.

Yep, if hockey were like baseball, Lamoriello would have little trouble bringing a high-scoring forward to Long Island. But with just over $5.12 million in cap space this summer, Lamoriello may need to be content with a complementary scorer, and a reasonably priced one. 

Islanders cap space in the 2024 offseason puts the team in a bad situation

Just because it looks bleak from a cap standpoint, Lamoriello could still shock the NHL universe and find a way to land a star. But it’s not something we should count on. Instead, he may be better off with bringing in role players that the team can swing, and try to find ways to help maximize the talent he’s got. 

It’s hard to say that this organization is at a crossroads because they have remained in the thick of the playoff race over the past few seasons, whether they made it or took a top-three spot. But judging from how turbulent the most recent years have gone for Lamoriello and company, they need to find ways to regularly get this team back into contending for a top-three spot in the Metropolitan. 

Maybe it will happen this offseason despite the lack of space. But at this time, Lamoriello will need to use cost-cutting measures involving potential player movement to take this franchise back into regular top-three contention.