New York Islanders: Simon Holmstrom Skates For The First Time At Camp

2019 first-round pick, Simon Holmstrom skated with the New York Islanders for his first day of training camp after missing time with a lower-body injury.

Simon Holmstrom was selected 23rd overall by the New York Islanders this past June. It was a head-scratcher considering his injury history while playing over in Sweden. It was never a question of talent, just durability.

He had hip surgery before last year and then during the season missed some time with a concussion and thumb injury before being drafted by the Isles.

Unfortunately, while playing in Sweden, he got hurt blocking a shot causing him to miss a week of rookie camp with the New York Islanders. Holmstrom, who didn’t particularly stand out in minicamp, could’ve used the extra ice time in front of Islanders coaches.

Today, the 18-year-old skated for the first time with the Islanders. He’s on the ice just in time as the Isles are set to play their first preseason game against the Flyers tomorrow.

Holmstrom was used today in a weird way. I know, preseason and training camp lines should be taken with a grain of salt but I’m genuinely sitting here scratching my head with this one. Simon Holmstrom and Josh Ho-Sang were playing together.

That’s not the weird part. Both wingers have offensive potential and were taken in the first round with the mindset that they would be top-six pieces to the Islanders offense one day. The center of the line was the weird part, Matt Martin.

That’s right, Matty Marts was between Simon Holmstrom and Josh Ho-Sang. I genuinely can’t tell you the last time I remember Matt Martin playing center, but nonetheless, he was working with the two youngsters.

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For Holmstrom in camp, he likely doesn’t have a shot at the roster but we’ll be able to see whether he plays in Bridgeport or back in Sweden this year. If I were betting, I’d assume Sweden but you never know with this group.