The New York Islanders have yet to announce any major signings this offseason, but one player rumoured to have a deal in place with the team is forward Casey Cizikas.
Cizikas is 30 years old and this past season, he scored seven goals and 14 points in 56 games, a pace of 10 goals and 21 points in 82 games. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the 31 Thoughts Podcast, the rumour is that Cizikas could receive a six-year contract, carrying a $2.5 million AAV.
The "guess" in here (with the qualifier "I have no idea if it's true") from @FriedgeHNIC is Cizikas comes in at 6x$2.5m.
That was my guess pre-silly season, since bumped up because of the Goodrow deal.
That's a really good price to get Cizikas at, but he's almost certainly going to experience a decline in the later years of the deal, given that he's already 30 years old. Realistically, going for a six-year term isn't great and the AAV would be too high to fully bury in the final years of the deal, if needed.
That said, Barclay Goodrow got six years at a higher price (as noted above), so it isn't shocking to see a long-term deal for Cizikas. Plus, the Islanders are in win-now mode, meaning that if giving Cizikas more term means keeping the AAV down, it's likely the best option.
I think we can safely say that it’s a very reasonable AAV for a quality depth forward, but one that could potentially hurt the Islanders a little bit in the later years.
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Would you be happy with a $2.5M x 6 year extension for Cizikas?