New York Islanders place Andy Andreoff on unconditional waivers for purposes of contract termination

The New York Islanders have placed Andy Andreoff on waivers in order to terminate his cotract. Andreoff had one year remaining on his contract at an AAV of $762,000. Once he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

Andreoff played the 2022-23 season for the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL, scoring 37 goals and 65 points in 69 games along with 64 penalty minutes. He also played three games in New York, scoring an assist. Andreoff is a 32-year-old center who has established himself as a superb power forward at the AHL level. He hasn’t been able to stick in the NHL and he hasn’t played the balance of any season in the NHL since 2017-18.

Since then he has put up great numbers in the AHL, consistently being one of the top scorers on whichever team he plays for. The move by the Islanders to terminate his contract raises eyebrows considering Andreoff just had perhaps the best AHL season of his career. And it’s not as if he was using up the team’s cap space at $762,500. The Islanders are right up against the cap right now but Andreoff wouldn’t count against that because he plays in the AHL.

They have a full roster signed with the exception of Oliver Wahlstrom, who won’t command a huge amount of money. They have used up 43 of their 50 contract spots, but again, I doubt they’ll need that space any time soon with their roster already set for the season.

Andreoff was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2011 NHL Draft. He played in four NHL seasons for the Kings, putting up 13 goals and 24 points along with 214 penalty minutes in 159 games. In his career, Andreoff has 14 goals and 27 points in 188 NHL games between the Kings, Islanders, and Philadelphia Flyers.