Newsday's Arthur Staple announced yesterday that the Islanders are close to signing restricted free agent, Thomas Hickey. With not much to talk about as we lead up to the draft, this leads to some interesting questions. How long will they sign Hickey for and how much? Every contract is important with many roster players commanding raises soon such as Brock Nelson and Anders Lee. Their has been no update on these two but there is no reason why they won't be signed.
As for Hickey, I'm ok with him as a one or two year placeholder for the kids to push him out. However I do not want to see Hickey anywhere near the top four. In a perfect world, I would be fine with him being the seventh or eighth defenseman but we know that won't happen. I can also be okay with him playing bottom pairing minutes if he is paired with someone with some size.
Hickey does a lot of things well. He can move the puck and is a strong skater but his size is a drawback. And if you are going to get pushed around like he has been you have to be more dynamic offensively to offset that and Hickey simply isn't.
The length and term of this contract will be important with players such as Lee and Nelson commanding raises and the team need to lock up Kyle Okposo and Ryan Strome as well. Once again I think Hickey will be a suitable placeholder if used correctly. It is just up for our coaching staff to use Hickey in the right spot. So good luck with that. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @dandannoodles78.