Anders Lee is back in the New York area wearing Utah Mammoth colors, skating on a line with Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther and preparing for a road date against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. It is a different view of the city for the longtime New York Islanders captain, who spent 13 seasons with the club before signing a three-year, $16.2 million deal with Utah on July 1.
Lee’s first trip through the metropolitan area as a visitor carries the weight of a long departure. The 36-year-old forward had been an Islander since the organization selected him in the sixth round, No. 152 overall, in the 2009 NHL Draft. He left fifth in franchise games played with 923, fourth in goals with 308 and 10th in points with 549.
Negotiations with the Islanders did not produce another contract after last season, forcing Lee, wife Grace and their three children to make a move they had not expected. Their daughters, Ruby, 6, and Josephine, 4, and son Augie, 2, have since begun settling into their new home.
“Leaving the group you went through it with was very hard,” Lee said.
Before committing to Utah, Lee sought out former teammates and other players who had handled a late-career change of address. Among them was former Islanders center Brock Nelson, who joined the Colorado Avalanche following a March 9, 2025 trade. Lee also spoke with Marty Reasoner as he weighed what a move would mean beyond the rink.
“You have to look at everything when you have a family,” Lee said. “It was a lot of information, a lot of conversations and figuring out what was right for us. The kids can adapt, but that does not make it simple.”
After the horn
Utah has helped take some of the pressure off the transition, and Lee has found an immediate connection with teammate Vincent Trocheck, another July 1 signing who returned to Madison Square Garden on Sunday against his former New York Rangers club.
The two families have spent time together off the ice, including dinners and visits with their children. Their daughters attend the same school class, an important detail for parents trying to make a major relocation feel routine.
“Getting the kids comfortable was the first priority,” Lee said. “As parents, you know you can handle the move. You want to know your children are settled.”
On the ice, the fit has come together quickly. Lee scored his first Mammoth goal in his third game, part of Utah’s 6-0 shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 1. He added an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Rangers, giving him two points with Cooley, 22, and Guenther, 23.
Utah general manager Bill Armstrong sees Lee as both a net-front answer for the club’s skilled young forwards and an experienced hand for its leadership group.
“He brings calm to our team,” Armstrong said. “There is no panic in his game. He will be a big presence in our leadership meetings and a mentor for our younger leaders.”
Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse and Nick Schmaltz already form part of that core, but Armstrong believes Lee’s experience can help push that group further. The general manager also pointed to Lee’s work around the crease, on the forecheck and along the walls as the missing balance beside Cooley and Guenther.
Lee’s search for a Stanley Cup remains central to the move. His Islanders years included some painful timing: a broken left leg at Madison Square Garden kept him out of the 2016 playoffs, and a torn ACL suffered in March 2021 sidelined him for New York’s return to the conference final that spring.
He did help the Islanders reach the second round in 2019 and the conference final during the pandemic-shortened 2020 postseason. Utah, meanwhile, reached the playoffs last season before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the Western Conference First Round.
“So much has to fall into place,” Lee said of winning a championship. “I would love to know what that feels like.”
Lee said Utah’s hockey plan was clear throughout the free-agent process. Discussions with Armstrong about his role, the club’s young talent and how he could fit made the decision easier.
Next puck drop
The Mammoth continue their five-game trip Tuesday against the Devils in New Jersey at 7 p.m. ET.
Lee will not face the Islanders on this swing. Utah hosts New York on Dec. 15, though Lee will be in Colorado on Dec. 14 as part of a back-to-back. His first game at UBS Arena as a visiting player is set for Feb. 15, following a Feb. 14 game against the Washington Capitals.
He expects the Long Island return to be emotional, even if the schedule leaves little time to linger over it.
“Those games can be tough because there is so much going through your mind,” Lee said. “You are almost just trying to get through it.”
