The New York Islanders have re-signed free agent defenseman Thomas Hickey to a four-year contract worth $10 million or $2.5 million per season AAV. This contract carries him through the 2021-22 season.
Islanders have an agreement to bring back Thomas Hickey. 4 years, $2.5 aav.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2018
New York Islanders Re-Sign Free Agent Defenseman Thomas Hickey
Hickey has spent his entire six-year career with the New York Islanders. He has scored 22 career goals and 89 career assists for 111 career points in 409 career games. Hickey has also added one goal and five assists for six points in 20 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was originally drafted in the first round, fourth overall by the Los Angels Kings in the 2007 NHL Draft. The Kings waived Hickey in January 2013, and he was claimed by the Islanders.
Las season, Hickey had a career-year scoring five goals and 20 assists for 25 points in 69 games. He also added 24 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 47.7 percent Corsi with a relative Corsi of +0.4. Hickey is coming off a three year, $6.6 million contract ($2.2 million AAV) that he signed with the Islanders in July of 2015.
What This Means for Hickeys’ Future
Hickey will look to improve on his time with the Islanders next season. He finished the year playing on the second pairing with Brandon Davidson, who is an unrestricted free agent as the Islanders did not give him a qualifying offer. Hickey averaged about 18 minutes of ice-time this year for the Islanders. He missed time this year with both upper and lower body injuries. Hickey should be able to crack the top six and find himself a regular spot in the line-up. He also finished in the top ten in blocked shots in each of the last two years with the Islanders and will look to bring his shot blocking abilities to his new team. It will be interesting to see how Hickey adapts next season.
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