As expected, first-round draft pick Josh Bailey remained with the Islanders when coach Scott Gordon trimmed the NHL roster to 31 players today with four exhibition games remaining.
In addition to Bailey, who has not yet been signed, enforcers Brandon Sugden (tryout) and Mitch Fritz still are with the Isles, which means at least one of them is likely to play in the only home exhibition game against the Devils Wednesday at the Coliseum. The other five players who are on two-way contracts include forwards Tim Jackman and Jeremy Colliton and defensemen Jack Hillen, Brett Skinner and Chris Lee.
Forward Mike Iggulden, suffered a foot injury in Saturday night’s 4-2 win over Florida, or he likely would be in the group sent to Bridgeport. It is believed forwards Ben Walter and Tomas Marcinko and defenseman Joe Callahan were placed on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to Bridgeport.
Another 16-player contingent was assigned to the Sound Tigers, including goaltenders Peter Mannino and Nathan Lawson, defensemen Dustin Kohn, Andrew MacDonald, Jamie Fraser and Jordan Hart and forwards Trevor Smith, Rob Hennigar, Sean Bentivoglio, Jesse Joensuu, Michael Haley, Kurtis McLean, Tyler Haskins, Jason Pitton, Joel Rechlicz and Long Island native Vladimir Nikoforov.
Returning to their junior teams are forwards Justin DiBenedetto and Matt Martin, defensemen Mark Katic and Simon Lacroix and goaltender Kevin Poulin.
The Islanders’ current 31-man roster breakdown looks something like this:
Forwards
Jon Sim, Doug Weight, Kyle Okposo
Blake Comeau, Josh Bailey, Mike Comrie
Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, Trent Hunter
Sean Bergenheim, Richard Park, Andy Hilbert
Mitch Fritz, Jeremy Colliton, Tim Jackman
Brandon Sugden
Defense
Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek
Andy Sutton, Freddy Meyer
Mark Streit, Bruno Gervais
Jack Hillen, Chris Lee
Brett Skinner
Goaltenders
Joey MacDonald
Yann Danis
Injured list – G Rick DiPietro, RW Bill Guerin, D Chris Campoli, C Mike Sillinger.
Comments (18)
Guerin is injured??
hmmmm... now it gets interesting, Right Greg????
Yea, why is Guerin on the injured list?
I'm dreaming of a trade...
The Islanders trade Andy Hilbert and future considerations to any of the other 29 NHL teams for a sixth round pick in 2019.
It still ticks me off that a complete nothing like Hilbert is taking up a roster spot for a kid.
For those of you that don't remember... Guerin had offseason shoulder surgery to repair i think what was a torn labrum and to remove a spur. He suffered the injury late last season and has not yet participated in contact drills and has not yet played in any pre-season games.
I could be wrong on the specifics of the surgery... but that is what my memory is re-calling at the moment.
DOC
Good to see Hillen is still there. By all accounts we may see him on opening day.
Everyone who says Hilbert should be traded has absolutely no idea his real value. Hilbert and Park are two of the best penalty killers there are because of their speed and the way they are in position without the puck.
Enough already, he isn't going anywhere.
Doc, you are correct.
Haywood: you know nothing about hockey. He is playing the fourth line and is the best penalty killer on the team.
He is not expected to score as much as you think. i have jumped on Hilbert for some of his mistakes but he is positives outweigh the negatives. There is more to hockey than scoring .
On the rangers....lets hope they beat this KHL team b/c if they do not, it will be an embarrassment to the NHL. I am pulling for the Rags on this one.
Good to see you back Merrick....Read your post from the previous thread.
Just got my 5 pack for the Bruins as well as my Isles games. Got B's vs. the Isles twice, vs. Ottawa, vs. Philly, and vs. the Rags......Nice package !
As for this coming year. Well unlike getting my heart ripped out with the Mets and constant disappointment from the Jets, Iam looking for improvement. I am looking for a glimpse of hope that Snow and the bobbleheads have a clue to what they are doing. I am looking for the youngsters to improve and give hope to the future. I am am looking for meaningful games towards the end of the year. Simply hope I am entertained!
Go Isles!
It's nowhere up on the blog yet, but the Isles website is reporting that the Islanders claimed Thomas Pock off waivers from the Rags. You can never have too many defensemen.
I like the pick-up of Pock (try saying that 3 times fast). He can carry the puck and gives us more depth on D. I only hope this is not any sort of indication of the severity of Campoli's injury.
Pock is an interesting pickup. I have only see him play one game (and that was at UMass), and I know he scored in his first game. Other then that I had the impression that the Rangers fans had gotten down on him (wonder if it will be another Poti situation?)
I asked our neighbors next door what they thought of him so we can get a good idea. Also...does this add anymore edge to the rivalry or is this too minor?
Here is a quick low-down on Pock
The Plus Side:
Has excellent offensive instincts and is never afraid to attack the opposition. Is a better-than-average goal-scoring defenseman.
The Down Side:
Must work on the defensive aspects of the game in order to make it big in the NHL. Needs to work on his positioning.
Career Potential:
Top four defenseman.
Spinner9
"I only hope this is not any sort of indication of the severity of Campoli's injury".
Yep, spinner, that's the story between the lines I am reading.
Nick
"You can never have too many defensemen."
Attaboy.
Good thing on Pock here...
http://www.nyhockeyrivalry.com
Do you think Thomas Pock Will start the season with the Islanders or start the season in Bridgeport if he clears waviers
Botta has posted two discouraging things this week. One, he gets the impression that Campoli's injury is long term. Two, non of the ex games are being broadcast in NY.
I can't really say much about campoli's injured status except, it is what it is. Chris has been on the POTENTIAL ROLLER COASTER for almost four years. He looks great as a rookie, not so good as a soph, starts to come back last year and then and now looks like he will be out at least a full season (dating back to last year). It would be nice to see him COMPETING for a job, but he's starting to get to be a sideline legend... and the team doesn't really need one of those.
Wang needs to grow some stones and get this team on the air as much as possible. I know they get a ton of scratch from MSG, but it's not going to make bit of difference when they have 5k in the stands... and they are paying $10 to be there...
Good to see you all back. This new Newsday format BLOWS.
Not just this blog, but trying to read the paper online is becoming quite a chore.
If you haven't been to the new PointBlank site, give it a shot.
nyipointblank.blogspot.com
Do you think Jeff Tambellini Can stick with the Islanders or do you think he will eventule be sent to Bridgeport or be claimed off waivers trying to get to Bridgeport.