After missing the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New York Islanders made their return to the dance in 2023. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't capture the magic of their previous deep runs and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round.

This offseason, New York was tasked with improving enough to become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders again. The approach the Islanders took to solving this problem was…interesting, to say the least. They were mostly inactive in free agency, but signed most of their own free agents to new deals.

How did this approach work out for New York? Well, let's break down and grade each of the Islanders' signings in 2023 NHL free agency.

D Scott Mayfield: 7 years, $24.5 million ($3.5 million AAV)

Mayfield, 30, checks just about all the boxes for a physical defenseman in the league. He stands at 6-5 and 220 pounds, throws his body around and while he's not an offensive dynamo by any means, he isn't a black hole on that end, either. For a team that prides itself on defense like New York, Mayfield fits right in.

That said, this contract has the word “albatross” written all over it. A $3.5 million AAV isn't the worst thing in the world, maybe a bit of an overpay, but is decent for what Mayfield provides right now—with an emphasis on “right now,” as the seven-year term is really what makes this deal so bad. Sure, Mayfield may be worth (or nearly worth) that cap hit in 2023, but what about when he's 37, in the final year of this deal?

If the Islanders wanted to lock up Mayfield for that long, they should've at least brought the cap hit down substantially. They didn't do that, and if anything, they did the exact opposite.

Grade: D+

LW Pierre Engvall: 7 years, $21 million ($3 million AAV)

Formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Engvall arrived on Long Island at the trade deadline, and he fit in pretty well. He had five goals and nine points in 18 regular-season games, and his underlying statistics were quite good. It only makes sense that the Islanders would want to retain him, but did they really have to go so overboard?

Once again, length is really what sinks this deal. Seven years is just such a massive commitment to make, and teams usually only give such term to star players. It's also worth noting that Engvall and Mayfield were the only free agents this offseason to receive seven-year deals, which is, to put it lightly, questionable.

Engvall is at least slightly younger than Mayfield at 27 years old, so he should have more left in the tank towards the end of the deal. Like the last contract, though, you'd want to see a much lower cap hit for such a massive commitment.

Grade: C-

G Semyon Varlamov: 4 years, $11 million ($2.75 million AAV)

We won't break down Ilya Sorokin's new extension as he technically wasn't a free agent this offseason. In short, though, that deal was a fantastic move by the Islanders to lock up their star goalie long-term. However, Sorokin has never been alone in the net. For his entire time on Long Island, he's had an excellent partner in Varlamov.

Even in his mid-30s, Varlamov is still playing very well, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average last season. He and Sorokin form one of the NHL's best goalie tandems, so it makes sense why the Islanders wanted to keep it intact. In a running theme, though, Varlamov's contract is just a bit overboard.

To be fair, this one isn't quite as bad as the previous two. It's much shorter at only four years and is the cheapest of the three in terms of annual value. However, giving a 35-year-old goalie that much term is always a risk. For one of the league's best backups, a $2.75 million cap hit is find, but the term drags it down a bit.

Grade: C+

RW Julien Gauthier: 2 years, $1.575 million ($787,500 AAV)

Gauthier is essentially a typical fourth-line grinder. He doesn't score much and only plays around 10 minutes a night, but at 6-4 and 224 pounds, can lay a lot of good hits. He's fine for what he is, just don't expect much more than that.

Grade: C

RW Karson Kuhlman: 1 year, $775,000

Like Gauthier, Kuhlman is another fourth-liner who has bounced around the league a lot. In 47 games with the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets last season, he had three goals and seven points while averaging around 12 minutes per game. He's a lot smaller than Gauthier, though, at just 5-10 and 184 pounds, so he doesn't have the same physicality. Again, a fine depth signing, but it doesn't exactly move the needle.

Grade: C-