New York Islanders Reaction to First Round of Training Camp Cuts

Parker Wotherspoon

Parker Wotherspoon was drafted by the Islanders in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. With 42 points in 72 games during his draft year Wotherspoon looked like a good blueline, but making an NHL team might be difficult.

But since being drafted in 2015, Wotherspoon has been making steady improvements. In 2016-17, his last season of junior hockey he put up 66 points in 69 games for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL.

He earned a spot with the Sound Tigers in 2017-18 where he returned 17 points in his first AHL season. Not a bad return for his first season playing pro-hockey. No longer is he playing against boys in the WHL.

It’s unlikely that he makes the team this season, but yet here he is. He survived the first wave of cuts. The Islanders sent a number of players back to Bridgeport, Wotherspoon would have been expected to join those players.

Again, it’s incredibly unlikely that he takes that seventh defenseman spot on the roster. We can be cynical about this and say he’s there to make up numbers int he practice squad. But it’s clear that the New York Islanders like something about Wotherspoon.

He’s going to be an interesting player to watch on the fringes of the organization.

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There’s still a ton of competition for that one spot on the Islanders blue line and only a few games left on the preseason tour before the season starts. It will be interesting to see who the Islanders give that seventh defenseman spot to.