The New York Islanders remained busy on Friday evening, announcing the signing of veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky, giving him a 1-year deal with a base salary of $1.5 million and he will earn bonuses through the season, which will be tacked on to the end of season total, once they're finished playing in the 2016 season/playoffs.
The 38-year old defenseman still has plenty of production left in his game, as he finished 41st among all defensemen in scoring last year, picking up 7 goals and 34 points in 81 games between New Jersey and Detroit.
The Islanders blueline will get a good boost of veteran experience with this signing and he should be able to mentor the youth, like Thomas Hickey and/or Calvin de Haan. At his age, he will have to bring something else to the table, if his production tapers off, due to his age.
Last season, Zidlicky was still able to have 20+ minute games between his two stops, so he wasn't short on ice-time at all. It will be interesting to see where he fits in with a blueline that already has a couple of work horses on it, in Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy.I think Zidlicky will still be a good addition to your pool team, but some uncertainty about how many minutes and his age, has me dropping his projections down to about 25 points for the year. He should still see some time on the power play and the overall offense of the Islanders improving year-over-year, he'll still notch a few points here and there.
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