"He's been a great captain in the National Hockey League," Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said. "He's a power forward and he does a lot of the things that we need. He goes to the net, he recovers pucks. His leadership as a teammate is to get in there and stick up for each other and just play hard. It's incredible. We were blown away that we would have the ability today to walk out of here today with a player like that."
Lee ranks fifth in Islanders history in games (923), fourth in goals (308), and 10th in points (549) since being selected by New York in the sixth round (No. 152) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He is a nine-time 20-goal scorer.
Lee has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 46 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“We talked on a contract, and the term was tougher for us to .... everybody has their own puzzle, right, depending where you are in your stage, and for him, he wanted the term, and he's entitled to it,” Islanders GM Mathieu Darche said. “He's an unrestricted free agent. It's in his power to see what's out there, and we couldn't come to an agreement, and again, I wish him only the best. I'm actually happy for Anders that he got his term that he wanted, and the money he wanted, so you know, good on him for getting what he wanted.”
Also on Wednesday, the Mammoth acquired forward Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers for defenseman Sean Durzi, forward prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
"We didn't know that Anders Lee would become available, so when that presents itself with the character and the quality of the person, the durability, the longevity, the leadership that he's well documented and known for," Utah president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said. "How he's had an impact on the community in Long Island and what that means for us here in Utah, as we continue to bring some of our young players along and have someone like that to set an example. And same with (Trocheck), a long durable career. He's taking good care of himself. We believe these players have a lot of good hockey left in them and can make a huge contribution for us right now."
