Dipping into the bargain bin of the free-agent market is not the ideal strategy to build up the New York Islanders roster in 2020-21. But for two years now, we've seen GM Lou Lamoriello pull free agents in on low-end deals in the hopes of extracting some previously unseen value.
In 2018-19 he picked up Robin Lehner, Valtteri Filppula, Jan Kovar, and Tom Kuhnhackl. In 2019-20 it was Derick Brassard. All had very different impacts on the Islanders. What is clear is that Lou likes to find hidden value in the free agency market.