Well, it finally happened. The Islanders and RFA Mathew Barzal have agreed to a three-year contract, conclusively ending this saga.
Dave Pagnotta sent out the first tweet, reporting that a deal had been reached. Arthur Staple retweeted it, and Andrew Gross confirmed it, as well.
The reports continue to filter out, and it appears that the Islanders wrangled in Barzal at a $7 million cap hit for the next three years.
The pandemic, and the financial troubles it has created, forced many teams to back-load as much and as legally as possible the contracts to which they signed their players.