The New York Islanders have signed forward Julien Gauthier to a two-year contract, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Gauthier, 25, collected nine goals and 14 points in 57 games split between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators during the 2022–23 regular season.
According to CapFriendly, Gauthier’s new one-way deal with the Islanders carries a $787,500 NHL cap hit. He’ll be paid $775,000 in the 2023–24 season and $800,000 in 2024–25.
Also on Wednesday, the Islanders announced they had signed forwards Karson Kuhlman and Brian Pinho to one-year, two-way deals for the 2023–24 season.
The Carolina Hurricanes originally selected Gauthier in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. The six-foot-four right wing made his professional debut with the Charlotte Checkers during the 2017–18 season.
Gauthier appeared in five games with the Hurricanes, all during the 2019–20 season, before being sent to the New York Rangers ahead of the 2020 NHL trade deadline in exchange for defensive prospect Joey Keane.
After appearing in parts of four seasons with the Rangers, during which he began to establish himself as a checking forward at the NHL level, Gauthier was traded with a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Tyler Motte. The Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec product racked up five points in 17 games with the Senators to conclude the 2022–23 season.
Through 153 games over parts of four seasons with the Hurricanes, Rangers, and Senators, Gauthier has racked up 14 goals and 32 points. He’s gone without a point in three Stanley Cup Playoff contests.
Gauthier joins an Islanders team that has been extremely busy since the unrestricted free agent market opened, although moreso in locking up its own players. On July 1, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello signed goaltender Ilya Sorokin for eight years, goaltender Semyon Varlamov for four years, and defenseman Scott Mayfield and forward Pierre Engvall for seven years each.
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