What a steal. The New York Islanders and defenseman Ryan Pulock reportedly agreed on an eight-year contract extension Wednesday night. TSN insider Darren Dreger initially reported the news.

His new eight-year contract extension, valued at $49.2 million ($6.15 million per season), will kick in on July 1, 2022. This year will be the last of a two-year, $10 million contract Ryan Pulock signed before the 2020-21 season.

The news comes a few months after defense partner Adam Pelech agreed to an eight-year contract with a similar average annual value ($5.75 million). Many in the analytics community consider that pair to be the most defensively sound in the entire NHL.

That’s the main reason why this contract is incredible. The Islanders have cemented their top defensive pairing for the next eight seasons. They’ve done so while paying the two players less than $12 million combined per season. For comparison, Sharks’ defenseman Erik Karlsson makes $11.5 million per season alone, and his play is rapidly declining. Karlsson is 31 whereas Pulock is 27. Karlsson signed his eight-year contract entering his age-29 season.

Ryan Pulock deserves this contract extension. He’s sound defensively, plays major minutes, and is a force on both the powerplay and penalty kill. He has a full no-trade clause for the first five years, then it becomes a limited no-trade clause until the contract expires in 2030. That’s insurance in case his game does drop off. If he keeps pulling off game-saving plays like he did in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals, he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

But Pulock needs to score more points this season. He had the lowest point total in 2020-21 (17) in his four full seasons on the Islanders. He averaged 0.48 points per game from 2017-18 through 2019-2020. Islanders fans can expect that to improve slightly in another full season as the defenseman enters the prime years of his career.

The 2021-22 season will be the 2013 first-round pick’s eighth professional season. He spent his entire career in the New York Islanders organization.

Pulock is approaching 300 games played in the blue and orange. He has 125 points in 290 games, including 33 goals. He’s also a +42.

He’ll be in the lineup Thursday night when the Islanders open their season against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. on MSG+.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.