New York Islanders Announce Second Round of Training Camp Cuts

The New York Islanders trimmed their 2019-20 roster to 40 names. In total, twelve players were cut from the roster and sent back to the AHL.

After their 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the New York Islanders trimmed down their roster from 52 names to 40. All twelve players were assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the AHL.

The players sent down were Sebastian Aho (D), Kieffer Bellows (LW), Arnaud Durandeau (LW), Scott Eansor (C), Ryan Hitchcock (LW), Grant Hutton (D), Mason Jobst (C), Otto Koivula (C), Jeff Kubiak (C), Kyle MacLean (C), Nicholas Schilkey (RW), and John Stevens (C).

Mason Jobst and Otto Koivula going down could be seen as a surprise. Both had standout camps with the Islanders. On two occasions Jobst was the overtime hero in the preseason. While Otto Koivula continued to impress with his strong play on and off the puck.

Neither did enough though to surpass some of the other Islanders prospects.

Those That Remain

With 40 players still on the roster, cuts are still coming to trim down the roster to 23 names by the start of the season. Of the 40 players, a few notable names still remain:

Josh Ho-Sang, Michael Dal Colle, Noah Dobson, Oliver Wahlstrom

All have differing probabilities of making the opening day roster, but all are one step closing to making it happen.

Josh Ho-Sang

After a poor game against the New York Rangers Josh Ho-Sang‘s chances of making the roster took a bit of a dive. Everything that has been said about Ho-Sang’s game, in a negative way, came true against the Rangers.

Turnovers, giveaways, poor defensive coverage. It was all there to see. It’s just one game, but it’s been five years since the Islanders drafted him in the first round. It’s been five years we’ve heard and seen the same deficiencies in his game.

The thought of having to place Ho-Sang on waivers and likely losing him for nothing probably isn’t palatable for the Islanders. If Ho-Sang can’t work his way into the roster a trade seems inevitable.

Michael Dal Colle

The Islanders like his game. They like his play defensively and it feels like they believe they can get more out of him offensively. Getting this far in training camp was never up for debate. Getting a spot on the team to start the season seems very likely.

Noah Dobson

Noah Dobson has impressed in camp so far. Barry Trotz can’t stop gushing about the 19-year-old defenseman.

Dobson is by no means a finished product. He’s still going to make mistakes, but he’s absolutely ready for the NHL. Every day he’s still at camp is one step closer to forcing Lou Lamoriello to open up a roster spot for him.

Oliver Wahlstrom

He didn’t have a good 2018-19 season, but here he is still competing for a roster spot. With his level of experience in the organization, you’d expect Kieffer Bellows to be here, not Oliver Wahlstrom.

Wahlstrom hasn’t scored in the preseason, but he’s certainly engaged and threatening. He’s fitting into the system and getting his chances. And that’s why Bellows is going back to the AHL and why Wahlstrom is still here.

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Over his last two games, Wahlstrom has totaled eight shots on net. Eight! That alone is clearly not enough to give him a roster spot going into the season. But combined with his engagement and his ability to fit the system he’s much closer than we thought he’d be after that season with Boston College.