The Islanders’ pursuit of Maxim Tsyplakov began around the New Year, when they — along with a number of other teams — sent a scout to Russia to watch Tsyplakov play for Spartak Moscow.
The scout in question, Jim Paliafito, just watched at first. Eventually, he made contact with Tsyplakov’s camp, leading the recruiting effort that culminated in the Islanders signing the 25-year-old to a one-year deal last week, beating out approximately 15 other teams.
“The main thing is the society, the social life there will be different from Russia and the foreign language,” Tsyplakov told The Post, using an interpreter, in his first interview since signing. “It may take some time to get used to it.”
Tsyplakov does not personally know the Islanders’ trio of Russian nationals (Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov, Alexander Romanov), but said he has spoken with Romanov for advice.
Asked if there was more comfort in coming to Long Island knowing he could speak Russian in the dressing room, though, Tsyplakov answered in English. “Of course,” he said.
Tsyplakov is coming off a breakout season in the KHL, during which he scored a career-high 31 goals. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, he plays a physical game and can kill penalties as well as create offense.
“A lot of hits, a lot of traffic out of the gates,” he said. “Also show good offensive and defensive game and good results. [I’ll] do everything and work hard for the team’s win.”
Tsyplakov and his camp have already met with Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who told them he plans to try the winger on all three top lines during training camp to find a fit.
“We think Max is gonna play in the second or in the third line,” his agent, Alexander Chernykh, told The Post via an interpreter.
The obvious spot for the Islanders to fill this offseason is on the left side of the second line — a spot where Roy rotated players after being hired in January. It would blow away expectations for his first year on North American ice if Tsyplakov can prove an effective scorer there on a nightly basis, but even being a consistent middle-six piece would be huge for a team that did not have enough scoring depth last season.
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Tsyplakov credited his breakout to coaches Alexei Zhamnov and Alexei Kovalev, both on staff for Spartak.
“They help a lot and gave a lot of advice for players during the season,” he said. “They said not to be afraid to make mistakes.”
Tsyplakov’s contract, which runs a $950,000 cap hit, includes a performance bonus of $1,000,000, per CapFriendly. While negotiating, general manager Lou Lamoriello told Chernykh it was just the second time he ever had given an undrafted player a bonus that large — a sign of the Islanders’ interest.
Though the deal is only for a year, Tsyplakov will be a restricted free agent next summer, so the Islanders will control his NHL rights.
“Max is a really good forward, he has a smart stick. Also, he was [one of the] top-five penalty killers in [the KHL] this season,” Chernykh said. “And he makes good results, he does everything for the team to win. So we think New York Islanders fans will see a good game. We hope that he will show maybe higher-quality game than he has shown this season in Spartak.”
It was not a foregone conclusion at the start of the season that Tsyplakov would make the jump. But as his season took off, it became more and more likely.
“Max, like all little guys, had a dream to play in the NHL, the strongest hockey league in the world,” Chernykh said. “And he wanted to use that chance. And as many teams were interested, they were showing interest to Max, we understood that he really has good chances to show his best there in NHL. So we decided to try.”
The early signing of Tsyplakov — well before silly season kicks off — is an indicator the Islanders are serious about making some changes this offseason.
Whether Tsyplakov ultimately becomes an everyday player or Nikita Soshnikov 2.0 is unknown. But the Islanders have not been out front in these types of situations for the past two offseasons, making almost no additions to their forward group.
The expectation, at least at this way-too-early juncture, is Tsyplakov will be in the opening-night lineup. That is already one more move in that direction than the Islanders made a year ago, when the only forward they signed in free agency was Julien Gauthier — a healthy scratch on opening night who was sent to the AHL early in Roy’s tenure and not heard from again.
It may prove only a small move. But it is a sign management is thinking differently than it did a year ago.
Not that anyone was holding their breath about this hypothetical, but Matt Martin shut things down quickly Wednesday when his father-in-law, Boomer Esiason, asked during a WFAN appearance what he would do if the Rangers offered him a contract this summer.
“I’m hanging up the phone,” Martin said.
Esiason’s Rangers fandom is not extending to Martin during the conference finals, which began Wednesday night.
“I am not rooting for anybody, let alone the New York Rangers,” Martin said. “I want happiness for the people I care about, the people I love, but this is certainly not one I can get behind. [I can’t] root for the best for Boomer in this situation.”