For a guy who just scored a $9.4 million deal with the New York Islanders, iceman Matt Moulson’s not very slick with his finances.
The multi-millionaire stickhandler had only the bare minimum of liability insurance — $25,000 — when he slammed his silver Cadillac Escalade into a Subaru in Connecticut last year and injured the other driver, a new lawsuit claims.
“He’s either clueless or cheap,’’ said lawyer Mark Arons, whose client, Lisa Caiati, sued Moulson, 28, for negligence in Danbury Superior Court this week.
Caiati, 40 and an art director, turned down the $25,000 payout from Moulson’s insurer and has asked the court to award for undisclosed damages.
Arons said Caiati is seeking “substantially’’ more to cover medical costs but declined to name an amount.
Moulson caused the June, 2010 accident when he tried to make a left turn, didn’t see Caiati in the oncoming lane and plowed into her, according to a police report.
Caiati was taken from the scene by ambulance and hospitalized for neck and back injuries, according to the report.
She now has herniated discs and lumbar pain, according to the suit.
Her medical and physical therapy bills are already climbing toward the $25,000 mark, Arons said.
Insurance experts today said Moulson’s bare-bones coverage was unusual for someone with his assets, especially since he could likely get a million dollar umbrella policy for $1,500 — or less — a year.
“For him, that’s a day at the grocery store,” said Arons. “It doesn’t make any sense that he wouldn’t have better coverage.”
“When I saw [the liability amount] I looked at it twice, thinking `there’s got to be a mistake.’ I double-checked with his insurer and they were surprised, too.”
“His insurance does not fully and fairly compensate Ms. Caiati …he is underinsured for the purposes of this claim,” said Arons.
In the accident report, Moulson’s address is listed as Nassau Coliseum , the Islanders’ home rink. His Escalade is also registered to the Uniondale arena.
The Islanders don’t own the car or insure it, Arons said. A rep for the team declined comment on the suit.
Moulson recently inked a three-year contract extension that gives him more than $3 million a year.
Moulson and his wife reportedly now own a home in the Stamford area.
Moulson’s lawyer, Stephan Seeger said the accident was a fender bender and blasted the claim against the hockey player as “grandstanding.’’ He said Moulson hasn’t been served with any papers, adding “last I checked, nothing was filed’’ in court.
“We have no earth-shattering, or bizarre, set of injuries sustained here,” said Seeger. “And we all know fender benders don’t usually make the front page.”
“This grandstanding about insurance minimums and `doing the right thing’ is laughable [and] designed to increase the nuisance value of the case,” he said. “Matt’s lucrative contract as a star player with the Islanders doesn’t magically make the claimed injuries worth more.’’
Seeger said Moulson’s insurer, Geico, has been handling Caiati’s claims and hasn’t been able to come to settlement terms with her.
Calling Moulson “a true gentleman” who spends his free time working with kids and charities, Seeger said, “he won’t be shamed into settling a case built around unreasonable demands.”