Predicting Islanders final 2021-22 roster before deadline

The deadline to submit final rosters is today (Monday) at 5 PM New York time. With a few cuts made earlier on Monday, the New York Islanders training camp roster is down to 26 names from the 57 that began.

Quick recap, Samuel Bolduc, Anatolii Golyshev, Richard Panik, and Robin Salo were all loaned to the Bridgeport Islanders on Monday.

So here’s who’s left and who might not be there when the final 23-man roster is announced later on Monday.

Predicting New York Islanders 2021-22 roster

The are sixteen forwards remaining on the roster at the time of writing. It’s safe to assume the Islanders will carry 14 forwards through the regular season, there could be one to two names that don’t make the cut here.

Here are the 16 forwards that remain:

• Bailey
• Barzal
• Beauvillier
• Bellows
• Cizikas
• Clutterbuck
• Dal Colle
• Johnston
• Komarov
• Lee
• Martin
• Nelson
• Pageau
• Palmieri
• Parise
• Wahlstrom

Assuming Matt Martin is off the roster as he recovers from injury there is one extra forward here. So who gets the cut? You have to think the choice is between Michael Dal Colle and Leo Komarov.

We still don’t know the cap number (or term) on Dal Colle’s contract so it’s hard to figure out how he affects the cap. But with Leo currently on the squad, the Isles are still under the $6 million of LTIR space offered by Johnny Boychuk. Komarov is a more useful player than Dal Colle so I figure Uncle Leo stays instead of MDC.

I also figure Kieffer Bellows is safe here as a 14th forward, but that might change if Matt Martin is fit to play. So keep an eye on Bellows. He’s very much still on the margin here. And his spot seems dependant on how close Martin is to being 100%.

In terms of defense, the roster seems set. The Isles have their seven defensemen. With Salo going to Bridgeport and Gustafsson signing with Chicago, Sebastian Aho is poised to stay with the big club as their extra blueliner:

• Aho
• Chara
• Dobson
• Greene
• Mayfield
• Pelech
• Pulock

In net, the Isles seem to still be carrying four shot-stoppers. But keep in mind that Skarek is waiver exempt so he can be loaned at any time. So taking him off the list makes sense, even if it hasn’t been made official yet.

• Skarek
• Schneider
• Sorokin
• Varlamov

That still leaves the team with three goalies. With the 14 forwards I figure the team will carry and the seven defensemen, three goalies is one too many for the 23-man roster.

BUT, there could be a goalie taxi squad, in which case having three goalies works. They’d still have to waive Cory Schenider – the obvious third goalie – to make the roster fit the 23-man limit.

And there you have it! That should be the Isles 23-man roster. Assuming a trade isn’t made at some point before 5 PM.