A roster crunch has been a long time coming for the New York Islanders. It began Saturday with veterans Thomas Hickey and Richard Panik hitting waivers, but it isn’t over. Even if Hickey and Panik clear waivers and are reassigned to the AHL, the Islanders still have 25 players on the roster, and that does not include unsigned RFA forward Kieffer Bellows or tryout defenseman Erik Gustafsson. With the deadline to have 23-man rosters set for the start of the season arriving on Monday night, time is running out for New York to make some difficult calls.
Unsurprisingly, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reports that GM Lou Lamoriello is “looking for landing spots” for the Islanders’ “extra guys.” The Isles already took a risk by exposing experienced blue liner Hickey, more attractive to opposing teams in the final year of his contract, and serviceable forward Panik, yet those were the easiest of their decisions. In order to trim their roster to 23, including Bellows, another forward such as Leo Komarov or Ross Johnston would also have to miss the final cut. Otherwise, the Islanders might need to look at moving Bellows instead. If Gustafsson is making the Isles, that is one more roster spot that would need to open up, potentially making Sebastian Aho available.
Lamoriello knows that none of these players is likely to clear waivers easily. The problem could be that other teams know this as well. The Islanders could be hard-pressed to find a fair deal when their potential trade partners know that the alternative could be to wait the Isles out and acquire the players for free. Time is running out; New York is on the clock.
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