Isles ink veteran Bernier to two-year pact

After season in Bridgeport, 32-Year-Old Winger Gets AHL/NHL Deal

June 13, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Islanders kicked off a busy offseason by signing veteran forward Steve Bernier to a two-year, two-way contract. AP Photo by Chris O’Meara

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With their biggest business of the summer still several weeks away, the New York Islanders took care of a much smaller matter last Friday, signing veteran winger Steve Bernier to a two-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) deal.

New York, which can’t begin serious negotiations on a contract extension with team captain and two-time Hart Trophy finalist John Tavares until July 1, was clearly enthused by Bernier’s performance for its AHL affiliate in Bridgeport last season.

The 32-year-old former Canadian national team member racked up 26 points (16 goals and 10 assists) in 33 games with the Sound Tigers, but never got the call to join the big club after producing a goal and five assists in 24 games, including six playoff contests, for the Islanders during the 2015-16 campaign.

In 2014-15 with New Jersey, Bernier put up his best NHL numbers, amassing 16 goals and 16 assists in 67 games in what proved to be his fourth and final season with the Devils.

He added two goals and five assists during a 24-game playoff run that year, helping New Jersey advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, which it ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

In 633 career NHL games with the Islanders, Devils, Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks, the crafty forward has registered 230 points (105 goals, 125 assists).

Bernier also has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 74 career Stanley Cup playoff games with the Islanders, Devils, Canucks and Sharks.

He has appeared in 118 career AHL games with the Sound Tigers, Albany Devils, Worcester Sharks and Cleveland Barons, totaling 87 points (43 goals, 44 assists). The Sharks originally drafted Bernier in the first round, 16th overall, at the 2003 NHL Draft.

Before playing professionally, Bernier scored 313 points (151 goals, 162 assists) in 271 games during four seasons with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Wildcats selected Bernier with the first overall pick at the 2001 QMJHL Entry Draft. The league eventually named Bernier to its All-Rookie Team in 2002, as well as the Second All-Star Team in 2003 and 2004.

Internationally, Bernier won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championship in Russia. During the tournament, Bernier finished second on his team in scoring with eight points (four goals, four assists) in seven games.

His signing to a two-way pact means he will be paid a higher salary, in accordance with NHL players’ association rules, when he competes with the Islanders, as opposed to the money he makes with the team’s minor-league affiliate.

But Tavares will clearly be the team’s focus going forward this summer as whatever moves they make via free agency and/or trade will directly impact the team’s leading scorer’s decision to extend his stay here in Brooklyn.

Published reports have indicated, and Tavares has noted several times himself, that he is willing to remain with the franchise that drafted him first overall in the 2009 NHL Draft.

“I have said it in the past — I want to be on the Island, that is where I hope everything works out,” Tavares noted during last year’s All-Star break, failing the mention that the franchise currently plays its home games in Brooklyn.

“I think we all know there is a lot more. A lot more goes into it than just saying you want to be there,” he added. “Negotiations happen and there is a process that goes about it, so for me it is just going through all that. I have not really thought too much about it … I love playing here and hope to be here.”

He will be a free agent following the upcoming 2017-18 campaign, but the Isles can sign him to a long-term extension this summer if Tavares is willing to overlook the team’s tenuous arena situation and ongoing struggle to seriously compete for a Stanley Cup.

The Isles, who can opt out of their Barclays Center deal following next season, have won just one playoff series since 1994, with that victory coming here in Downtown Brooklyn in 2016, when Tavares scored the overtime winner in Game 6 against Florida in the opening round.

The team failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in three seasons this past campaign, and Tavares missed the final five contests of the Isles’ furious late-season push due to a hamstring injury suffered on the Barclays’ poor ice surface.

General manager Garth Snow has to be overjoyed that Tavares is open to remaining with the franchise.

But he still has several other moves to make this offseason, including a potential deal involving goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

The veteran netminder was relegated to the minors just prior to the start of the New Year, but galvanized the team with his brilliant play after being recalled in March.

Snow will also be overseeing the team’s picks in the 2017 NHL Draft, which takes place June 23 in Chicago.

Isle Have Another: The Isles will also lose a player in the June 21 Expansion Draft as the league tries to fill out the roster of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who will kick off their inaugural campaign next season. As per Expansion Draft rules, Snow can protect seven forward, three defensemen and one goaltender or eight skaters (defenseman and forwards) and one goalie. The Isles’ youth movement, consisting of budding stars like Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Ho-Sang, will be protected, as are all first- and second-year professionals and unsigned draft picks.