New York Islanders Rookie Camp 2017-2018 Roster Hopefuls

The New York Islanders released their Rookie Camp roster on Friday. Today, we’ll talk about how on this list has a real shot at the roster.

On Friday the New York Islanders announced through their website, who will be attending rookie camp. The list included 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies. Some notables made the list while others were left off.

For the forwards, you have Mathew Barzal, Kieffer Bellows, Michael Dal Colle, Arnaud Durandeau, Scott Eansor, Matthew Gaudreau, Joshua Ho-Sang, Ross Johnston, Jeff Kubiak, Matthew Lane, Kyle Schempp, Travis St. Denis, John Stevens and Yannick Turcotte.

The defensemen you’ll see at camp are Sebastian Aho, Kyle Burroughs, Sean Durzi, David Qunneville, Willie Raskob, Devon Toews, Mitchell Vande Sompel and Parker Wotherspoon. In net, you’ll see Mitch Gillam and Eamon McAdam.

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Missing from the bunch is Ryan Pulock, who will still be considered a rookie in 2017-2018. Of the names listed above how many have a real shot at making the roster? I say two, maybe three.

Josh Ho-Sang

This one is a definite. Josh Ho-Sang played 21 games for the Islanders last year and was a big factor in their playoff push down the stretch. It’s not only assumed that he’ll have a roster spot, many are also suggesting that he slots into the Isles top-six.

He was at a pace of 39 points over a full season in his small sample size last year and the Islanders are certainly expecting him to improve on that margin in his first full year. He recently said that he doesn’t have a ceiling for himself at 21-years old, so it seems he has high expectations for himself as well.

If for some strange reason Ho-Sang isn’t on the roster fans have the right to riot. This seems like the lock of the century, then again if you told me Ryan Pulock was going to play just one game in 2016-2017 before last year I wouldn’t have believed you.

Mathew Barzal

Barzal is on the fence. He should make the team and play every night, in my opinion, but the Isles have loads and loads of depth. With Jason Chimera, Nikolai Kulemin, Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal fighting for three spots do the Isles give the veterans the benefit of the doubt?

That’s my one fear that will land Barzal in Bridgeport. If I were making the lines I’d go something like this:

Lee – Tavares – Eberle

Ladd – Nelson – Ho-Sang

Beauvillier – Barzal – Bailey

Chimera – Cizikas – Clutterbuck

That was you can fit both Barzal and Beauvillier in the lineup every night. The one thing I don’t like about that third line is that all those guys are more playmakers than finishers, but that’s a story for another day.

Others

The only other names that have an outside chance is Devon Toews and Michael Dal Colle. Toews is a name that has gone up the prospect ladder in recent memory. He’ll likely get a shot at some point this year but making the roster for opening night seems like a stretch.

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As for Dal Colle, I feel like we’ve heard that name forever, but there’s simply no room for him at the moment. There’s an outside chance he sees some action this year, especially if there’s an injury but he won’t be a regular until next season.