Mammoth Sign Anders Lee

The Utah Mammoth have pulled veteran winger Anders Lee away from the Eastern Conference. In his first stint on the open market after 14 years with the New York Islanders, Lee has signed a three-year, $16.2MM contract with the Mammoth per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Utah confirmed the signing soon after the announcement.

This move will end Lee’s storied stay on Long Island. The former Islanders captain played through the peak of his career with New York after being drafted as an overage prospect in the sixth-round of the 2009 NHL Draft. A high-school dual athlete, Lee needed some runway before taking off at the top level. He spent three years at the University of Notre Dame and two years rotating between the NHL and AHL lineups before playing through his rookie NHL season in 2014-15. Lee was an instant impact, scoring 25 goals and 41 points in his first year, then returning with 36 points in year-two.

That NHL start was enough to earn Lee a top spot next to John Tavares and Josh Bailey in his third season. That role propped up the best years of Lee’s career. He finished the 2016-17 campaign with 34 goals and 52 points, then returned with a monumental 40 goals and 62 points in 2017-18. Lee remains the only Islander to reach 40 goals since his debut in 2012. He was named New York’s captain at the start of the 2018-19 season.

While his scoring has since dwindled, Lee has remained a consistent threat for 20 goals and 40 points each season. He surpassed 50 points in three of the last eight seasons, including reaching 29 goals and 54 points in the 2024-25 season. Lee has also been a pillar of good health, missing just one game since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.

Now, the Mammoth will look to benefit from his veteran leadership. Lee will join New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck in his move from the East Coast to Salt Lake City. The duo will represent an injection of impactful veterans into a young Mammoth top-nine. While Trocheck spars with Nick Schmaltz for the role of second-line center, Lee could find his way into a top-six role. More specifically, he could become the final addition to the line of Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, who rotated between linemates while Clayton Keller played primarily off of Schmaltz. The mix of strong forwards will give Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny plenty to work with as the club seeks their second playoff bid next season.