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In April 2013, young Islander Anders Lee threw a long-range wrist shot on net for his first NHL shot in his first NHL period.
The puck fooled Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec, and Lee threw his hands in the air with glee as the goal horn rang through Nassau Coliseum.
Casey Cizikas, who picked up an assist on the play and was destined to become Lees longtime teammate, grabbed the puck as a keepsake: the first of what would become 308 Islanders goals off Lees stick.
Advertisement For the next 13 years, Lee never wore another NHL sweater.
He became captain in October 2018, helped the Islanders to a pair of conference finals (2020 and 2021, the teams deepest runs since 1993) and reached No.
4 on the franchises all-time goal-scorer list.
Hes one of the defining Islanders players of his era.
Given all that history, working through his emotions of moving on has absolutely been a process, the 36-year-old told The Athletic in a phone interview Friday.
On July 1, he signed a three-year, $16.2 million ($5.4 million average annual value) free agent deal with Utah, officially ending his time in New York.
Spent my entire career on the Island and gave everything I had to that team and to the organization and to the community, said the wing, who had 19 goals and 42 points this past season.
Im very proud of my time there.
Top to bottom, the people in that organization, Im going to miss them.
After the season, Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche made it clear he wanted to re-sign Lee and have the forward, currently at 923 NHL games, reach the 1,000-game milestone with the club.
Lee said he definitely had hope that hed stay with the only team hed ever known.
I didnt anticipate (leaving) at all or go into this process thinking that this would be the result, he said.
But negotiations in the summer didnt lead to a deal.
As Lee said, They had their stance on the term, and I understand their side and they understood my side.
Theyre doing their best and Im doing my best, he said.
Sometimes this is just the result.
Its not personal or anything like that.
This is part of our game, and going through that isnt easy.
Eight teams reached out to Lee when he hit the market, including his hometown Minnesota Wild, who made an aggressive pitch that included a presentation the day free agency opened.
But after talking through his options with his wife, Grace, Lee decided on Utah, a 2025-26 playoff team that pushed eventual Western Conference champion Vegas to six games in the first round.
Hell likely slot in as a top-six winger.
Advertisement It was the fit they found for me as a player within their team, said Lee, who wore a No.
72 jersey at his introductory press conference, the reverse of his No.
27 with the Islanders.
I wasnt just going to find a place.
It had to be a good fit.
..
I know my game, they know my game, and they valued that.
In the aftermath of signing, Lee received a FaceTime call from Mammoth owner Ryan Smith and his wife, Ashley, who introduced themselves and welcomed him to the club.
Its a big transition, he said.
For him to call and just kind of lighten that load meant a lot.
His new Mammoth teammates, he said, have reached out, too, and helped him get a feel for potential areas to live and schools for his three kids.
Lee sees Utah as a team in win-now mode with players from the blossoming Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther to veteran newcomers like himself and Vincent Trocheck who are ready to contend.
Hes excited for the new opportunity.
Still, saying goodbye to the former Islanders teammates has been difficult.
Those are my guys, and I care for them, he said.
They mean a lot to me, and Im going to miss them.
We worked together, we played together, we grew up together.
As much as its about hockey, sometimes its about friendship and life and the whole gig.
Your family there.
It hasnt been easy.
Lee, the Islanders sixth-round pick in 2009, became an active member of the Long Island community during his time with the club.
His charitable efforts included work with the Jam Kancer In The Kan Foundation, which raises money to fight cancer.
That contributed to him winning the 2024 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, given to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community, per the NHL.
Advertisement Asked what hes most proud of during his time in New York, Lee mentioned his work away from hockey, his and the teams on-ice performance, and the culture he tried to foster in the dressing room.
Theres a human component and cheering for one another and looking out for each other, not just on the ice, he said.
I think its a culture that strives to be better all the time and doesnt take any shortcuts.
Thats how I lived my life as an Islander.
Now that that time is over, as he looks back at his 923 games (plus 46 more in the playoffs), hes filled with gratitude.
Said the now-former captain: Its always going to be my home and where Ive raised my family.