New York Islanders 2017 Prospect Report: Michael Dal Colle

New York Islanders prospect and former first round selection Michael Dal Colle spent his first season at the pro level with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

We’re introducing a new segment here at Eyes On Isles called “Where They At?”. The segment will take a look at various prospects in the New York Islanders system and we’ll talk about where they are in their development.

Pretty simple right? Today we kick start our segment off with the former fifth overall selection from the 2014 entry level draft Michael Dal Colle.

After being selected by the Isles Dal Colle spent another year and a half with the Oshawa Generals (the same junior team that John Tavares played for). In that 2014-2015 season, Dal Colle put up an impressive 93 points.

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That success didn’t continue into 2015-2016. Dal Colle moved over to Kingston Frontenacs midseason and his point total dipped down to 80 points on the season. Although 2015-2016 was the year he saw his first pro action as he played in three regular-season games and three playoff games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

This past year Dal Colle spent his first full pro season at the AHL level with Bridgeport. He finished with 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points. Not a bad season by any stretch of the imagination but he’s not producing at the same level that he did in Juniors.

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An adjustment period is expected going from Juniors to Pro and although he put up decent numbers the Islanders expectations are much higher for Dal Colle. With that said he will likely see another season in Bridgeport before getting a call-up to the big club.

It’s going to be tough anyway because the Islanders don’t have a ton of forward slots opening up this year anyway. That will let Dal Colle have another year at the AHL level to develop his game before the NHL transition.

What you want to see from Dal Colle this year is more scoring. If he can net 20+ goals in Bridgeport this upcoming season there’s a good chance he will have a shot at making the Isles in 2018-2019. Unless of course he’s used as trade bait, but that’s a story for another day.

Next: Prospect Mathew Barzal Dominates in WHL Championship

On a final note Happy Mothers Day to all those hockey moms out there. We see you and appreciate you! And a special shout out to Momma O’Leary thanks for all the love and support over the years and for reading our site even though you don’t know what I’m talking about half the time.

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