Isles sign Brian Strait to three-year extension after waiver-wire pickup

Two weeks ago, Brian Strait was placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now he has signed a three-year contract with the New York Islanders.

By Brian Stubits

Jan 31, 2013 at 2:44 pm ET • 1 min read

Strait was taken in the third round of the 2006 draft. (Getty Images)

Two weeks ago, Brian Strait was placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, he has signed a three-year contract with the New York Islanders. Talk about a nice couple of weeks.

The three-year deal is worth $2.325 million or $775,000 per season, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday.

Strait was waived by the Penguins after they apparently didn't see him as a fit for their blue line this season. He never made it to the AHL, though. The Islanders grabbed him, and he hasn't looked back. Strait has played in every game for the Islanders this season and has been a pleasant surprise, playing with team captain Mark Streit -- a nightmare pairing for announcers.

He has been one of the few great developments in the first few weeks of the season for New York, along with the team's strong start.

The Islanders knew they had issues to take care of on the blue line from last season. That's why they traded for Lubomir Visnovsky over the summer. Even if he had reported on time -- he still hasn't but is expected to soon -- they would have needed more help. That's where Strait came in.

The Isles are notoriously cheap/stingy, and they're always looking to find those diamonds in the rough, guys who don't cost much either to acquire or to keep. It's unlikely the Isles paid him a ton to sign -- after all, he was probably thrilled to get an NHL deal for three seasons just for starters. We can now say he's getting "Strait cash, homey" so we can make awful puns while revitalizing Randy Moss's great quote.

While he isn't much of a point-producer, he has shown to be a reliable defender, precisely what the Isles needed after being one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, allowing more than three goals per game.

As for Pittsburgh, you have to wonder how good he would look in a Pens sweater right now with Matt Niskanen injured and considering how bad the pairing of Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland has been.

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