New York Islanders: 25 Bold Predictions For 2018-2019 Season

22: Michael Dal Colle will play 0 games in the NHL

When you’re selected fifth overall in a draft you’re supposed to be a difference maker. Four years later, Michael Dal Colle is about the furthest thing from that.

Last year he played his first NHL games, and it was pretty boring. In four games, he had zero goals, zero assists, zero penalty minutes a zero plus-minus. He attempted just one shot on goal in those four games. Nonfactor is the word that makes the most sense.

Since coming over to the AHL, Dal Colle has underwhelmed. In 2016-2017 he had 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) fairly mediocre numbers for a first round pick, especially a top-five pick. He followed that up with 24 points (7 goals, 17 assists) last year with the Sound Tigers.

He didn’t make the roster out of camp this year, which is really no surprise. With Kieffer Bellows and Josh Ho-Sang in Bridgeport, he’s been surpassed in the pipeline and will likely need to see at minimum three injuries before he gets a telephone call.

It’s over. There’s no more waiting to see him develop because he’s a “big forward”. He’s slow, ineffective, and the b-word (a bust). He’s more likely to be thrown in as an extra in a trade than to have any kind of role with the New York Islanders NHL roster.