Islanders Bode Wilde sent back to juniors frees up contract spot

On Monday, the New York Islanders sent defensive prospect Bode Wilde down to the OHL after a short stint in the AHL. The move opens up a spot on the Isles contract list.

He was supposed to be a first-round pick in 2018. But after de-committing from Harvard and then the University of Michigan defenseman Bode Wilde fell to the second round where the New York Islanders selected him 45th overall.

Immediately after the draft, Bode Wilde showed all the doubters that he should have been taken in the first round. Playing for the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, Wilde scored 19 goals and 70 points in 62 games played.

He was a dominant force for the Spirit as they went all the way to the third round of the OHL playoffs. He wasn’t as dominant with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers int he following year, unfortunately.

A Winning Situation

In 20 games with the Sound Tigers, Wilde recorded just two points. Wilde just wasn’t having the intended impact now in the AHL. So the Islanders felt their 6’4″ blueliner was better served to go to the Saginaw Spirit.

Unlike the Sound Tigers, who are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division of the AHL, the Saginaw Spirit are flying high in the OHL’s Western Conference. He leaves a team losing the situation and walks into a winning one.

There Wilde will join up with fellow Islanders prospects Blade Jenkins and Cole Coskey. Coskey, the Isles seventh-round pick from 2019, is having a career year with 64 points in 51 games played.

In terms of development, there’s nothing like winning games and putting up points to build a player up.

The move also frees up a spot on the Islandesr contract list. Every NHL team can only carry 50 contracts. The Islanders had 49. That’s not a lot of room to play with as the trade deadline approaches. Opening up space gives Lou Lamoriello some flexibility to add a player or two if need be.

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Bode Wilde will be back. And he’ll be better for it. For now, he gets to spend some time playing a big role and some winning hockey and the Isles get some space to do something to move the needle forward for this team.