"I am thrilled to be a New York Islander for eight more years," Pelech said. "The negotiations were smooth, I couldn't be happier with the result, and looking forward to spending eight more years with this team."
The 26-year-old defenseman, who was a restricted free agent, avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Aug. 11.
Pelech scored 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 56 regular-season games with the Islanders last season, and five points (one goal, four assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Islanders, who reached the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons, traded defenseman Nick Leddy to the Detroit Red Wings on July 16 for forward Richard Panik and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (
Aatu Raty
, No. 52). Forward Jordan Eberle was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on July 21.
"A big emphasis on the offseason was to keep this group together as much as we could," Pelech said. "It's really tough losing those two guys, they're great players and great teammates, but unfortunately that's just the business. At the end of the day, if we can keep most of the team together, I think everyone, at least all the players, we'd be thrilled with that. That's what we wanted in the offseason, we want to keep this group together, we're a tight group and we know that together we can do something special."
Selected by New York in the third round (No. 65) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Pelech has scored 75 points (16 goals, 59 assists) in 303 regular-season games, and 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 48 playoff games.
