[Signing] Islanders sign Josh Bailey to extension (5yrs, $3.3mil AAV)

[devo22]

per TSN. Basically the same contract they gave Grabner two years ago at the same age.

Isles now have most of their core locked up long-term - Hamonic until 2020, Tavares and Bailey until 2018, Clutterbuck until 2017, Grabner, Okposo, Nielsen and Martin until 2016. Now re-sign MacDonald and Moulson next year and the Fishsticks are all set.

[handgroen]

might be an exciting team when you factor all those things in and add the move to brooklyn.

good singing too BTW

[Anduril]

Interesting. Looks like Bailey has slowly claimed back into relevance and has gotten his reward for the development he's been showing.

[GreenLantern]

I remember a few years ago when they didn't think Bailey would stick in the NHL.. I know he spent a lot of time on the wing since then and it seems to have saved his career.

Good value if he can continue developing into a 40-50 point guy.

Still a lot of depth in this organization that has yet to be seen with Strome, de Haan, Reinhart, Sundstrom and Nelson among others..

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I remember a few years ago when they didn't think Bailey would stick in the NHL.. I know he spent a lot of time on the wing since then and it seems to have saved his career.

He's still only 23 years old. Who was writing him off a couple years ago? I understand that expectations may have gone from 1st line center that you hope to get with a high first rounder to more of a second line winger but I think saved his career is a bit of a hyperbole. It's far from irregular to see a 20 year old center switch to wing like he did.

Not a huge fan of this signing, not after they were able to get Hamonic signed for 3.9M but because Bailey entered the league so young this 5 year contract does take up 3 UFA years and with the cap rising it's probably going to end up being even under fair value. But 5 years for a player who's yet to reach 40 points is a bit too long of term for my liking.

[handgroen]

boy not a ton of interest in this thread eh?
4 replies?

[Fire]

Sorry to disappoint you.

[Heavy Jack]

Don't think he's worth that much but the term is decent if he continues to progress forward. It's a so-so contract right now and could turn into a great contract but could also become an anchor. It will be interesting to see how Bailey plays going forward from the new contract, he had a pretty good showing against Pitt and will now be leaned upon as a bigger piece in their group of young forwards.

[hayduke's dad]

19 points in 48 game season

3.3 million per year

Glad the lockout was for a reason

[GGG]

Originally Posted by hayduke's dad

Glad the lockout was for a reason

Can people quit saying this. The lockout had nothing to do with players get paid ridiculous contracts July first. It was about cost certainty for the owners. The owners as a collective will never pay a dime over 50% of revenues regardless of the stupid contracts they give out. The lockout was about guarenteed dollars not fans sick of bloated contracts.

Everytime I someone say this I just lose it.