NY Islanders announce 23-man roster for the start of the 2022-23 season

Updated following Lou Lamoriello's press conference

The New York Islanders announced their 23-man roster at 5 pm on Monday ahead of the team's season opener Thursday night versus the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena.

The one notable transaction was that veteran Cal Clutterbuck was placed on the team's IR list retroactive to September 26th. Last March, three days after the veteran forward had signed a two-year contract extension, the team announced he was undergoing shoulder surgery for an injury suffered earlier that month.

The expectation at the time was that he would be ready to start the regular season. "Cal had a little soreness after one of the games, and we shut him down completely to get it to 100%, said GM Lou Lamoriello. Maybe we did a little too much, but he's been skating on his own, and he'll be joining the team on a day-to-day situation." Clutterbuck scored six goals and 15 points in 59 games this season. His two-year extension carries a cap hit of 1.75M a year.

Making the roster was former Toronto Maple Leafs forward, Nikita Soshnikov who was signed to a one-way, $750K deal in late September. The speedy Soshnikov has been practicing on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin/Ross Johnston, assuming Clutterbuck's spot in the lineup.

Soshnikov, 28, spent the last three seasons playing in the KHL, dressing for Salavat Yulaev Ufa, CSKA Moscow, and last season for Avangard Omsk. Last season, Soshnikov scored four goals and 16 points for Omsk, and in 13 playoff games, he tallied five goals and eight points. In 79 regular season contests in the KHL, the Nizhny Tagil, Russia native scored 12 goals and 42 assists

The Islanders are carrying seven defensemen, with both Robin Salo and Sebastian Aho making the team. The expectation is that Salo has done enough to win the sixth defenseman spot to start the season. Meanwhile, Scott Mayfield, coming off his own season-ending injury, has been absent from practice recently due to an illness, and the expectation is that he'll be good to go for Thursday's home opener.