The New York Islanders have signed UFA defender Andy Greene to a one-year contract, worth $700,000. Greene is 38 years of age and should find his way in the Islanders’ starting lineup this season.

At the 2020 trade deadline, GM Lou Lamoriello traded a 2021 second-round pick and defensive prospect David Quenneville to New Jersey in exchange for their captain, Andy Greene. Greene, despite his age, is a solid defensive defenseman and was acquired while Adam Pelech was injured to provide some temporary relief on the back end. However, the veteran defender got plenty of ice time in playoff games, and with Devon Toews and Johnny Boychuk no longer on the team, Greene will certainly be a regular on the blue line this year.

All potential injuries aside, the Islanders’ bottom-four defensemen should be some combination of Scott Mayfield, Nick Leddy, Noah Dobson, and Andy Greene. Greene may play with Leddy, but Coach Barry Trotz had high praise for the Dobson-Greene pairing during training camp before the Return to Play. He may want to keep them together and have Greene act as a mentor to the promising young defender.

In the 2020 postseason, Greene played 21 games and notched four points while recording a +2 +/- rating. Most notably, he scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 against Philadelphia, and the go-ahead goal in Game 7 against them off of a gorgeous Derick Brassard feed.

It was reported that Greene and the Islanders had a verbal agreement in place for months; it was just a matter of when the contract would be officially signed. Now, pen has officially met paper, and there’s no negative way to view this for the Islanders.

Greene is a leader, has a great defensive stick, is still solid at this point in his career, and will be a key part of Noah Dobson’s development in his first full season. With the NHL season right around the corner, it will be fun to watch Andy Greene and the New York Islanders hit the ice again.

John Smark