Islander fan favorite Kyle Okposo received a nice 5-year, $34 million contract this on May 25. Many fans believe he has a chance at becoming the next captain of the team. The contract is structured in a similar way to recently signed speed demon Michael “Gremlin” Grabner. The salary structure of the contract goes from first season to the fifth season – from $1 million to 4.5 million, just shy of the $35 million Grabner signed for earlier this month.

Kyle was the 7th pick of the 2006 NHL entry draft, and has shown signs of being a talented offensive forward. He had a high of 50 points in 80 games for the 2009-10 season. Unfortunately, Kyle’s serious shoulder injury in the preseason caused him to miss the majority of games last season. With 20 points in 38 games, in my opinion, Okposo never seemed to really find his groove.

You might say his point total was decent, and I’d agree all things considered, but he did have 34 goal scoring Michael Grabner on his line so I believe that padded his assist total as he and Frans Neilsen always looked for the “Hail Mary” pass up the middle to lead Grabner on a breakaway. On one hand it was nice for the team to finally have a second line scoring threat, on the other hand, it would have been nice to see Okposo score more goals. Next season he will have additional pressure on him because of his new contract and the shoulder will be at 100%, so Islander fans should really see what Okposo is made out of this coming year.

The structure of the last two contracts gives me the feeling that the team really believes something great is going to be happening for the team in three to five years because the contracts are heavily loaded to the future years. It could be a new coliseum, a playoff caliber team, or hopefully both. If things should really bomb though, Wang could also sell the team and be off the hook for the latter, more expensive years of the contracts. These do seem like good business decisions; like he is hedging his position with the coliseum, team, and fans.

I really like the latest contract extensions. They fit well with the overall scope of what the team is doing now and into the future. The length of Okposo’s deal, just as it was in the Grabner contract, is the only issue I have with them. If Okposo can remain healthy and get back into form I’d like to think he can remain in the 50 to 60 point plateau for the length of the contract. If either player digresses the team will be left holding the bag for up to five years. It’s the type of gamble the team is known for now. Somewhat long, lower salary per year averaged contracts to young promising players looking for stability.