Islanders sign Alex Jefferies to one-year contract

Another arbitration hearing was avoided for an eligible restricted free agent, as the New York Islanders signed Alex Jefferies to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday morning.

The contract will guarantee Jefferies a minimum total compensation of $130,000 for the 2026-27 season with a salary of $100,000 at the AHL level and $850,000 for any time spent on the NHL roster.

A fourth-round pick by the Islanders with the No. 121 overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, Jefferies is a 24-year-old Massachusetts native who has spent the past two full seasons as a member of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, which is moving from Bridgeport to Hamilton.

After turning pro following a successful NCAA career at Merrimack College, Jefferies has 65 points in 131 career games at the AHL level. This past season, he racked up 29 points on 9 goals and 20 assists in 60 regular season games before being held scoreless in two Calder Cup Playoff appearances.

According to PuckPedia, by avoiding this arbitration proceeding, the Islanders opened up another buyout window for themselves which they are eligible to use on a player with a salary cap hit of at least $4 million who was on the team’s roster at the trade deadline in March.

Now with another year of experience under his belt, young general manager Mathieu Darche is looking to push his team into the next tier of the Metropolitan Division.

Powered by a breakout rookie season from Matthew Schaefer and excellent goaltending from Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders spent most of the 2025-26 season in possession of a playoff spot before flaws throughout the roster caught up to them as the season wore on.

New York has plenty of continuity on the roster from last year’s group, with the free agent signing of Mattias Maccelli standing as the major addition Darche made this summer to fortify the roster.