Going over Islanders four offseason priorities

Extend Noah Dobson

The New York Islanders don't have many players to re-sign going into the offseason. Looking at CapFriendly shows the Isles have two pending RFAs and three pending UFAs on their NHL roster.

One of those RFAs is 51 point defenseman Noah Dobson.

The 22-year-old blueliner had a slow start to the year, but he turned things around by December. He became that top4 guy the Isles thought he could be coming into the year. So now what happens when it comes to his extension?

Re-signing Dobson isn't a question of if but how much for the New York Islanders.

It's certainly possible that the Isles can work out a long-term deal with a decent yet manageable cap hit for the young man. Think of the Seth Jones contract from Columbus after his ELC expired in 2016. Jones signed a six-year deal with a $5.4 million cap hit. A deal of that nature is possible and would benefit both parties.

But we're talking about Lou Lamoriello here. Lou doesn't do these type of deals. When it comes to the next contract after an ELC a bridge deal follows, right?

Not really. Look at his time with the Maple Leafs and the contract extension he gave Morgan Reilly after his ELC expired. In 2016, Lou signed Reilly to a six-year $30 million deal. So I don't see why Lou can't do the same for Dobson now. By all accounts, Dobson is on a path to being a better player than Reilly is=.

There's a real possibility here that Lou Lamoriello and Noah Dobson's camp hammer out a longer team deal for his next contract. A deal that obviously gives Noah a massive raise, but also gives the Islanders some long-term cost certainty. That would be a huge win for both sides.