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True to their free agency style, the New York Islanders have signed another forward with something to prove in ex-Minnesota Wild left wing Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Multiple reports have it at $2 million for one season.
In this instance, the object of proof is whether Bouchard can play a full season. He has had a concussion and other injuries limit him since 2008-09, when he last played more than 60 games in a season. [Note: To be fair, he played 43 of the 48 games this past lockout season ... which is a lot but of course also not a "full" traditional season.]
Before that run of stints on IR, he was a 15-goal guy shooting at about 11 percent. For the Corsi-inclined, he had impressive numbers on weak teams in 2010-11 and 2011-12 -- again, in injury-limited appearances -- though last season was more middle of the pack.
Basically, from this and the Peter Regin and Cal Clutterbuck additions, it appears the Islanders are trying to beef up the abilities of their bottom six -- with some guys who can play above that if necessary -- while hoping their top six continue to do as they were. On that topic, an open question is who takes the Brad Boyes spot in 2012-13. With a few top prospects pushing for jobs, there are a lot of moving parts and flexibility in the lineup, and that now includes the quite skilled Bouchard.
The Boyes or [Your Wing Here] question notwithstanding, the forward corps should be strong and two-way responsible in 2013-14. Now about that goaltending...
Free Agency Commentariat
Discuss Bouchard in this thread, earlier signing Regin and the Danes here, and the Nabokov re-signing over there. But our main, daylong and league-wide free agency discussion and ennuie thread is over here.