Islanders Waivers: Thomas Hickey, Andrew Ladd and other takeaways

Monday at noon, the New York Islanders announced further cuts to their training camp roster by waiving seven players. Among the group were Thomas Hickey and Andrew Ladd.

The New York Islanders placed seven players on the waiver wire Monday afternoon. Included in that list were several players from the team’s official training camp roster, including defenseman Thomas Hickey and forward Andrew Ladd.

Arthur Staple first reported the news via Twitter.

The waiver list comes on a day in which many NHL teams are waiving players in preparation for Wednesday when the NHL’s 2020-21 schedule commences.

There had been a report by Staple earlier in the day that the Islanders were still seeking a trade in the interest of freeing up salary. Should it be Hickey who is dealt in a potential trade, Staple noted, it would leave the Islanders thin on defensive depth. In other words, should there be a trade involving Hickey, look out for the Isles to take a crack at scooping a defenseman off of another team’s waiver list.

Takeaways

According to The Athletic’s James Mirtle, 139 players were placed on waivers today across the league. One blueliner who is likely to be plucked from his original team is Calgary’s Oliver Kylington, a seventh defenseman due to make $787,500 in 2020-21.

Also worth noting are the Islanders players who did not see their names on the waivers list. Those include Leo Komarov, Ross Johnston, Michael Dal Colle, Dmytro Timashov, and Sebastian Aho.

As Staple mentions, the inclusion of these guys on the Islanders opening night roster likely means there won’t be a third line featuring Oliver Wahlstrom or Kieffer Bellows, as many of us had hoped there would be. At least, not right away.

As waiver-exempt players, Wahlstrom, Bellows, and Otto Koivula can be re-assigned to the minors without a 24-hour period exposing them to other NHL teams. Meaning, as the Islanders scramble to reach the $81.500 million cap ceiling (so as to maximize the $6 million LTIR space that Johnny Boychuk will give,) the young guns will likely be in Bridgeport come Wednesday.

Given his situation, Thomas Hickey’s inclusion on Monday’s waivers list must certainly be frustrating. Hickey’s had a tough go both on and off the ice recently (subscription required), and I can’t help but hope that he finds a place on an NHL roster somewhere during the 2020-21 season.

I echo that hope for Josh Ho-Sang, who, after finding himself not invited to Islanders training camp, was waived by the team on Sunday and cleared today. Certainly, character issues have been a concern with the young winger. But, and have no doubt about this, there will be players with far worse off-ice infractions, and far less on-ice talent, who will be on an NHL roster come the 13th. That is a bet I’d be willing to place without a second thought.