Ryan Pulock to stay with New York Islanders

Ryan Pulock agreed to a two-year contract with the New York Islanders on Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 26-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent who had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Nov. 6.

"Obviously I haven't been in this position before and with arbitration and that whole situation, I think in all matters teams and players, you don't want to get that far," Pulock said. "I'm really happy that we can get the deal done and obviously really excited to be back for two more years. This team has come a long way and the future is bright, so it's exciting."

Pulock has led the Islanders in scoring at the position each of the past two seasons. He scored 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 68 games last season and 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 22 postseason games to help the Islanders reach the Eastern Conference Final.

"That road is special," Pulock said. "I think whenever you can get to a point like that, you know it takes a lot to get there. The team we had, and just the type of guys in that room, I think, made it that much more special."

Selected by New York in the first round (No. 15) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Pulock has scored 108 points (31 goals, 77 assists) in 234 regular-season games and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 36 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He can be an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season.

"I think the big thing for us was just trying to make something work that was good for both teams in terms of the (NHL salary) cap and the flat cap and that we felt we were comfortable what we're doing," Pulock said. "And then just being able to get something done, and then down the road here in the future, we can hopefully work on something else. I think that the big thing in the deal was just really trying to make it work for both sides."

NHL.com staff writer Jon Lane contributed to this report