Islanders confusing 2021 roster moves ahead of reveal

What will the New York Islanders roster look like for the 2021 season? With opening night of the season today, we still have no idea. And it’s getting confusing.

As of 1 PM on Wednesday the New York Islanders still haven’t officially released their official 2021 roster. So we don’t yet know who’s officially in or out or how the Islanders are going to stay cap compliant.

But as fans try to piece together the puzzle, more questions are coming up than are being answered. Which is very, very, confusing.

Confusion

For starters, why is Michael Dal Colle on LTIR? According to Cap Friendly, the Isles fifth overall pick from 2014 is listed alongside Johnny Boychuk on LTIR but there has been no indication from the team or media alike that Dal Colle was ever injured.

What happened to Michael Dal Colle exactly? When did he get injured? Is this carryover from the playoffs? Or is this some sort of Lou Lamoriello cap-gymnastics? (It’s hard to see as that being the answer.) Again, there are more questions than answers right now.

And what happened to Cory Schneider? We know that the Islanders have signed the veteran shot-stopper but he’s nowhere to be found on the Islanders roster. We know Lou hasn’t officially filed the paperwork, but wasn’t that supposed to have been done by 5 PM (New York time) yesterday? Wouldn’t Schneider be officially official by now? What’s the hold-up?

Most NHL teams have released their official roster at this point, but the Isles are creating pure chaos with theirs. This could, of course, be an overreaction to the method of Lou’s madness. But with just over 24 hours before the Islanders take the ice against the Rangers in their season opener we have no idea who’s on the regular roster, the taxi squad, or outside of the roster altogether.

So for now we sit and wait to see where this train goes. And maybe get some answers.