Islanders: Best Player To Wear Number 58

Continuing our best of series, today we will look at the best player to wear number 58 for the New York Islanders in their history.

In the New Yor Islanders history, just five players have ever dressed wearing the number 58. The first to do it was Bill Berg in 1989. He wore it in his first seven games with the team as a 21-year-old.

He actually put up decent numbers in that limited sample size three points (1 goal, 2 assists) playing on the left-wing. He would go on to switch to number four the following season.

Almost a decade later, Evgeny Namestnikov, the father of Vladislav Namestnikov, wore the number for the Isles in 1997-1998. He played in just six games and had one assist from the blue line. He played in just 43 games in his NHL career which spanned over five seasons.

In 2000, Aris Brimanis wore the number for the Islanders. He played in just 18 games that year but the Isles relied on him a ton when he did play. He averaged 20 minutes a night during his time with the Islanders that season and put up three points (2 goals, 1 assist).

In 2006, Masi Marjamaki was the next player to wear the number. He originally was drafted by the Bruins in the 2003 Draft and then again by the Islanders in the fifth round in 2005. He ended up playing just one game in his career and it came with the Isles in the same year he was drafted.

He didn’t register a shot in his 5:17 of ice time in the Isles loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on April 18, 2006.

That brings us to the final player to wear number 58 for the Islanders, Jesse Joensuu. He was a second-round pick for the Islanders in 2006, and he would make his NHL debut two years later. In seven games he had three points.

The following year, he’d get another short stint with the Islanders playing in 42 games and putting up nine points (6 goals, 3 assists). That was the best year of his NHL career. He’d have one more run with the Isles playing seven games in 2012-2013 before moving over to Edmonton for two seasons.

Over four seasons with the Islanders, he finished with 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) in 67 games. Now you can find him playing KHL with Jokerit Helsinki.

I don’t think Joensuu played enough with the Isles to award him a winner for number 58 but he certainly had it for the longest time. We have another day without a winner it seems.