Islanders first-rounder Malte Gustafsson signs…
Malte Gustafsson, the No. 13 general decide in last month’s draft, is now formally half of the Islanders’ group.
They signed Gustafsson to a three-year entry-level deal — which carries an average annual worth of $1.575 million, according to Puckpedia — less than three weeks after the draft. Gustafsson told The Post at development camp that he deliberate to play for HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League again next season, and after signing his deal, that’d mark a comparable route to the one that 2025 first-round decide Victor Eklund took last yr.
Eklund inked his entry-level deal July 14, performed for Djurgårdens IF in the SHL, skated in 11 video games for AHL Bridgeport between the common season and playoffs and then even made his NHL debut in Game 82. If Gustafsson skates in fewer than 10 NHL video games next season, the first yr of his entry-level deal would likewise slide and he wouldn’t burn that initial season of his deal.
Malte Gustafsson during an Islanders rookie scrimmage on July 1, 2026. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post
Plenty still has to occur for Gustafsson to attain that level, to where he’s doubtlessly an option to help either the Islanders or AHL Hamilton. But he arrived “as advertised” to development camp, head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters earlier this month, and his mix of dimension, physicality and two-way means already positioned the 18-year-old as somebody who may develop into a crucial piece of the Islanders’ blue line in the future.
“He’s mature beyond his years,” DoBoer told reporters after the ultimate day of development camp, “and I believed in the sport yesterday, he obtained better as it went on. I believed the second period of that sport, I believed you began to see him get more assured. These rookie camps are robust. I can bear in mind over the years some of the best gamers I had didn’t look great at rookie camp.
“So you’ve got to take them with a grain of salt sometimes, but I thought Malte came as advertised. He did a great job.”
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