Blake Comeau and the New York Islanders avoided going through the arbitration hearing process by agreeing to terms on a one-year contract Tuesday night reportedly worth $2.5 million. Comeau's arbitration hearing was scheduled for Thursday in Toronto.
Comeau, 25, established career highs in goals (24), assists (22) and points (46) last season. He was fourth on the Islanders in goals and fifth in points.
Comeau made his NHL debut in 2006-07, appearing in only three games. He bounced between the Islanders and the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers over the next two seasons, but he played the majority of his games with the NHL club, registering 40 points over 104 games.
The former second-round draft pick became a full-time Islander in 2009-10, when he had 35 points over 61 games. He has 121 points (56 goals, 65 assists) in 245 career NHL games.
With Comeau's signing, the Islanders' payroll for the 2010-11 season moved up to roughly $47 million, according to capgeek.com. They are still $1.3 million short of the salary cap floor, but the Islanders still have to sign restricted free agent Josh Bailey.
The Islanders were able to add payroll last week in a trade with the Devils. They acquired Brian Rolston and his $5 million salary in exchange for Trent Hunter, who was due to make $2 million in each of the next two seasons.
The Devils waived Hunter and defenseman Colin White on Monday and bought both contracts out on Tuesday, making each player an unrestricted free agent.
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