New York Islanders captain Anders Lee is preparing to hit free agency.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported on Wednesday that Lee’s agent Neil Sheehy met with Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche and both sides are far apart in contract talks.
LeBrun adds that while the Islanders intend to keep trying to re-sign their captain, the pending unrestricted free agent “appears most likely headed to market at the moment.”
Lee, 35, had 19 goals and 42 points in 82 games with the Islanders this season.
The 6-foot-3 winger – ranked 14th in TSN’s list of available UFAs – is coming off a seven-year, $49 million contract that carried a cap hit of $7 million.
Drafted 152nd overall by the Islanders in 2009, Lee has 308 goals and 549 points in 923 career games and was named captain of the Islanders in October of 2018.
Lee helped lead the Islanders to the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning both times.
The Edina Minn., native represented the United States three times at the World Hockey Championship, taking home bronze medals in 2015 and 2018.
