Islanders sign goaltender Josh Kotai to entry-level contract

The New York Islanders have added some extra goaltending depth, signing college free agent Josh Kotai to a two-year, entry-level contract on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old just finished his third year at Augustana University. He finish with a .938 save percentage, five shutouts and a 20-11-4 record. Augustana was recently eliminated by St. Thomas and was not granted a spot in the NCAA tournament, set for later this week.

Kotai was named both CCHA Player and Goaltender of the year while earning First-Team All-CCHA honors in the process. His numbers allowed him to become one of the top goaltenders in the NCAA. Kotai finished his three-year college run with a 39-30-9 record with eight shutouts and a .931 save percentage.

Prior to the NCAA, Kotai bounced around various junior leagues, including the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 2022-23. It’s there where he put up a 32-4-3 record with three shutouts and a .935 save percentage en route to a league title.

The 23-year-old is the son of Alex Kotai, who served as an emergency backup goaltender for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks earlier this season.

Kotai will likely find himself in either the AHL or ECHL next season. The Islanders will have four goaltenders set to become free agents this summer, with David Rittich, Marcus Hogberg, Henrik Tikkanen and Tristan Lennox all needing new deals. Dmitri Gazmin has been one of the KHL’s top netminders this season, but has a deal with CSKA Moscow until 2028.

Notably, the Bridgeport Islanders AHL team is set to relocate to Hamilton for the 2026-27 season. The team has been based in Bridgeport since 2001, originally as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and was renamed the Bridgeport Islanders in 2021.

Hamilton has not had an AHL team since 2015, when the Hamilton Bulldogs, who were affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens, relocated to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and were renamed the St. John’s IceCaps.