NY Islanders: Bardreau, Fasching get call-up as forward depth is tested

The Islanders made multiple call-ups from Bridgeport on Thursday, but not the one some fans were expecting and hoping to see. Top prospect Aatu Räty was scratched from Bridgeport's game on Wednesday night in Providence, but we learned it was due to a non-Covid related illness and not that he was making his way to Long Island. Instead, the Isles went a different route.

Bardreau, Fasching get call-up as forward depth is tested

GM Lou Lamoriello announced that the team had recalled Hudson Fasching and Cole Bardreau, citing positional need. The transactions come after the team moved F Kyle Palmieri to IR retroactive to Nov. 21 and listed both Cal Clutterbuck and Josh Bailey as day-to-day. Fasching has 10 points (7G, 3A) in 18 games this year, and Bardreau has nine points (5G, 4A) in 19 games this season.

"They were positional call ups. We could have called up other people in different positions but that's not the need right now. It's a positional need and also warranted on the way they have played throughout the season.""

Lou Lamoriello

Fans remember Bardreau from his 10-game stint during the 2019-20 season, which included his first (and only) NHL goal on a penalty shot against the Ottawa Senators. His celebration landed him on the back page of Newsday. “It’s obviously pretty exciting,” Bardreau said. “When you get to kind of do my age you think your opportunity might be gone there, that you’re not going to get another look at it, so it kind of just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy it.”

Fasching, 27, has played 38 NHL games with the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres, recording three points (three assists). He was originally selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.

“It means a lot. I mean to be part of a new organization, to have this opportunity, it’s everything,” Fasching said. “That’s what we work for in this sport is to try to get called up to the highest level.”