Mammoth sign Anders Lee to three-year contract
The Utah Mammoth struck once already on Wednesday when they acquired center Vincent Trocheck in a blockbuster deal with the New York Rangers.
Now, another American forward previously with a New York metro area team is joining the mix in Salt Lake City, as the Mammoth announced that they have signed former New York Islanders captain Anders Lee to a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.4 million.
Welcome to Utah! ✍️ We have signed forward Anders Lee to a three-year deal. Read more here: nhl.com/utah/news/utah…
Lee, who ranked as the No. 10 player available on July 1 according to Matt Larkin’s rankings of the top 50 free agents, is coming off a 42-points season that saw him appear in all 82 games with the Islanders, who just narrowly missed out on a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a hot start to the season.
The Minnesota native has appeared in all 82 games in three of the past four regular seasons, missing just one contest in 2023-24. The best offensive campaign of his career came back in 2017-18, when he racked up 40 goals and 62 points.
A quality net-front presence who excels at generating high-danger chances in close, Lee will provide some needed offensive punch on the left wing for Utah, which now has Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz and Trocheck down the middle with Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther on the right wing.
Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong has long been known for his aggression, and moves to add experienced veterans like Trocheck and Lee on the same day goes a long way toward making Utah’s forward group a more difficult out in a postseason environment.
The Mammoth got their first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, as they earned one of the Western Conference’s two wild card spots and pushed the eventual conference champion Vegas Golden Knights to six games in the first round.
According to PuckPedia, Armstrong still has $8.5 million in flexibility under the upper limit of the salary cap with 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders under contract for next year.