Islanders loan four talented players to AHL side Bridgeport

The New York Islanders final roster is due at 5 PM eastern time today. In anticipation of the final roster, the Isles have made a few cuts to the team. They sent four players to the Bridgeport Islanders on loan.

Neither is a surprise move, but all four players will add extra talent to a growing pool of talent for the Islanders AHL affiliate.

New York Islanders loan four talented players to Bridgeport

The four players sent to Bridgeport on loan are Samuel Bolduc (LHD), Robin Salo (LHD), Anatolii Golyshev (LW), and Richard Panik (F). All four should be key players for the B-Islanders.

Samuel Bolduc didn’t participate in the Islanders camp (injury), but the left-handed defenseman and second-round pick from 2019, had a breakout year at the AHL level in 2020-21. It’s an easy leap to assume he’ll have an equally strong, or better year, in 2021-22 with the increase in talent on the roster.

Robin Salo turned a number of heads through training camp. Many had only heard of Salo and what he did in Sweden with Orebro, training camp gave them a chance to see what some of us who monitor prospects year-round have been saying for a while: “The Isles have something in Salo.”

He will easily fit in the B-Islanders top-four and quarterback one of the power-play units. Expect a big year from the Finnish defender.

Anatolii Golyshev is undersized for the NHL, but he’s not about to let that stop him. He’s impressed coach Barry Trotz with his work ethic, his understanding of the system, and overall play. He didn’t outplay any of the vets it seems, but you have to believe in any other year he’d make the team.

The Russian winger has been a productive player in the KHL, which is easily the second-best hockey league in the world. Golyshev is effectively a 30-40 player at the NHL level when using translation factors to project his NHL production. He should be a big addition to the B-Islanders top-six.

I’m still surprised Richard Panik didn’t make the roster. But this could be simply due to the camp. The Islanders can bury just over 80% of his cap hit by having him in the AHL. He might be a slight improvement on Leo Komarov, but perhaps the team needed Leo’s $3 million cap hit to make sure they maximize the Boychuk LTIR money.

Of course, this isn’t news per see. Panik successfully cleared waivers on Sunday.

Panik hasn’t played in the AHL since 2013-14, but in three seasons at the AHL level the Slovakian forward put up 93 points over 128 games. Again, that was a number of years ago, but it’s clear that Panik can play well at the lower level.

These four players will add to the growing talent pool for the Bridgeport Islanders. The B-Islanders just opened camp a few days ago, so their roster isn’t quite set yet, but with the players at their disposal you have to think they’ll be much better than they were in 2020-21.