New York Islanders Cap Space: Examining the Islanders' salary in the off-season

The New York Islanders lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and in the off-season, they have made some questionable decisions.

The Islanders currently have just over $1 million in cap space, as New York didn't have much wiggle room to do much. New York currently has every single player on their NHL roster under contract, so who you see now on their roster is likely their opening night roster.

However, the problem with the New York Islanders has been GM Lou Lamoriello has signed some players to long-term deals.

New York Islanders make questionable moves

Instead of adding any new players, the New York Islanders and Lou Lamoriello decided to re-sign players. The Islanders re-signed Ilya Sorokin to an eight-year extension worth $8.25 million per year, which was a great move, as he is one of the best goalies in the NHL.

"We wanted Ilya to be here," Lamoriello said (via NHL.com). "There's no better time to do it than prior to training camp or prior to any part of the season. Once you get along in the season, it's a distraction and this will not be a distraction to anyone. We certainly wanted him back so why not try and get it done right now and that was the focus...

"You don't want a player of his statute to go into the last year of his contract. I think it's a lot of pressure on the player. I think there would be a lot of media pressure on what his thoughts are and so forth… This takes away the mental aspect of it, so we're extremely pleased with that. I think we all know the type of goaltender he is."

The Sorokin contract extension was great business from Lou Lamoriello, but outside of that, the other three he signed are very questionable. He inked backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov - who is 35 to a four-year deal worth $2.75 million per, which is expensive, especially in his last 30's.

Then, Lamoriello re-signed defenseman Scott Mayfield - who is a good second-line defenseman - but he signed him to a seven-year extension. Mayfield is 30 years old and will now be making $3.5 million per. Then, the Islander re-signed a bottom-six forward, Pierre Engvall to a seven-year deal worth $3 million per year.

Although those players play a key role on the team, some fans were disappointed in the length, but Lamoriello said the length allowed them to keep the AAV down.

"The players wanted to come back and then we were just trying to work out a situation that's fair for both parties," Lamoriello said. "We're just extremely pleased that we were able to accomplish it...

"You sort of judge to keep the AAV down where a player would be today and the first several years of the contract and then where they might be, in the latter part of the contract and try and get it so it's a manageable number on both ends."

Ultimately, the Islanders head into next season with a pretty similar team that just made the playoffs.