Good Morning, Islanders Country.
COVID isn’t done with the New York Islanders. No, not yet.
Barry Trotz will have to wait a few more days to get behind the bench in 2022 as he entered COVID protocol on Tuesday along with injured Islanders’ defenseman Ryan Pulock. More than half of the Islanders roster as well as three members of the coaching staff has tested positive this season.
Coming up, the Islanders’ prospect pool is thinning out as another prospect leaves his college team. Plus, that time Tommy Söderström (and his awesome cage) stole a game for Mike Milbury, and do you know how many Islanders have not been in COVID protocol? Hint: Not many.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: COVID found its way behind the bench and onto injured reserve on Tuesday as Barry Trotz and Ryan Pulock were placed in COVID-19 protocol.
Trotz had just returned to the team on Saturday after mourning the death of his mother. With Trotz in the protocol, assistant coach Lane Lambert, who was behind the bench for the Islanders’ 3-2 OT win over Edmonton on Jan. 1, will watch over the team if/when the team hosts the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
"There's quite a bit of empathy. Barry is such an empathetic guy himself, always looking after everyone in our organization here, players, coaches, the whole deal,” said captain Anders Lee. “He's a good family man, he's been through a lot lately and now with the COVID, we wish him the best in the next few days, he's itching to be back with us and we'll make sure that we take care of business while he's away."
Trotz would miss both Thursday’s game against the Devils and Saturday afternoon’s tilt against the Washington Capitals if he remains in protocol for the next five days.
As for Pulock, if there’s ever a good time for a hockey player to test positive, it’s while you’re out with an injury. The 27-year-old defenseman hasn't played since November 15th because of a lower-body injury suffered in Tampa Bay and his original 4-6 week timeline to return has become 8-10 weeks as the injury has been slow to heal.
💦 SHALLOW POOL: The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler is releasing his 2022 rankings of every NHL organization’s prospects and the Islanders checked in at … 31. It has been a steady fall down the rankings for the Isles who checked in at 28 last year and 24 the season before that. As Wheeler explains, the fall further down the rankings is partly due to some players reaching the NHL while others have turned 23 which disqualifies them from making the list.
This comes after some pretty significant year-over-year turnover. Oliver Wahlstrom, the team’s top prospect, has graduated to the NHL. All of Robin Salo, Kieffer Bellows, and Otto Koivula, who were in their next tier, have since turned 23 and been graduated out due to age. Bode Wilde, once one of the team’s only other prospects of consequence, didn’t get vaccinated before the start of this season and was summarily shipped off to play in Sweden.
The organization didn’t replace any of them with a first-round pick after having moved out their top 2021 draft choice to acquire Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac at last year’s trade deadline.
Here are Wheeler’s Top 5 Islanders prospects:
Aatu Raty, C, 19 (Kärpät/Jukurit - When he has it, he hangs onto the puck more, uses his size and quick hands to attack the middle of the ice, keeps his feet moving to work to get pucks back, and shoots to score with a release that pops off of his blade.
William Dufour, RW, 19 (Saint John Sea Dogs) - He has a presence about him that makes him a factor on and off the puck when he’s on the ice. But I do still worry about the sluggishness of his stride and his propensity to bobble pucks, and the way those two things typically hurt players at higher tempos.
Simon Holmstrom, LW/RW, 20 (Bridgeport Islanders) - He still gets caught on the perimeter and chops through his stride a little too much, but there has been enough progress there not to rule out a future as a complementary piece.
Ruslan Iskhakov, C/W, 21 (Adler Mannheim) - He’s undersized, for sure, and I’m not convinced he’s so talented that he’d become more than a tweener if the Islanders were to sign him, but he interests me a lot more than a lot of the players they do have signed to the AHL club and I love the way he uses time and space to manipulate coverage and bait defenders.
Samuel Bolduc, LHD, 21 (Bridgeport Islanders) - He’s clearly a reliable, capable two-way defender at the AHL level. That much is obvious when you watch him, even though the points aren’t there this year. I think he’d be a serviceable penalty killer at the NHL level too. But he probably tops out as a No. 5-6 defenceman long term.
📰 FREED FRIAR: Isles’ prospect Ben Mirageas is no longer a member of Providence College. The former third-round pick (77th overall) in 2017 was in his fifth year on the blue-line with the Friars. “We are appreciative of Ben’s contributions to our program over the past four-plus seasons, said Providence head coach Nate Leaman in a short press release . “We wish Ben all the best in his future endeavors.”
No reason was given for Mirageas’ departure. In 149 career games at Providence, Mirageas posted 14 goals and 37 assists for 51 points with 100 penalty minutes.
Michel Anderson of Eyes on Isles has more on this in his latest prospect video
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are scheduled to play their first game since New Year’s Day against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (COVID permitting) at UBS Arena to be followed by a Saturday matinee with the Washington Capitals at 2 pm.
📊 STANDINGS:
🩸 HELPING HAND: The Islanders are partnering with New York Blood Center to help combat a blood shortage crisis by holding a blood drive prior to next Friday’s game against Arizona. The drive will go from 1:30 PM to 6 PM outside UBS Arena.
All registered donors will receive two (2) tickets to either Monster Jam (2/4, 2/5, 2/6) OR Harlem Globetrotters (2/19) while supplies last. In addition, all registered donors will be entered to win two (2) tickets to the Islanders home game on 1/27, two (2) tickets to Journey on 2/25, and two (2) tickets to Marc Anthony on 3/25.
📚 SOUND SMART: With Ryan Pulock the latest to find himself in COVID protocol, you can count the number of Islander regulars not impacted by COVID on one hand. J.G. Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, Scott Mayfield, Ilya Sorokin, and Semyon Varlamov are the only players not to have been added to the COVID list since last season.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On January 11, 1996, Dan Plante and Mathieu Schneider scored 1:45 apart in a three-goal first period to power the Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and extend their unbeaten streak to a season-high five games. Tommy Söderström made 43 saves for the Islanders, who also stretched their home unbeaten streak to seven games (3-0-4). Soderstrom owned a personal eight-game unbeaten streak (4-0-4) after the victory.
“For once, we won a game we didn't deserve to win. That was a good sign,' said New York coach Mike Milbury. 'The goaltender stole two points for us. We've suffered some really tough losses. This team has worked hard to scramble where they can see a playoff spot.”
🎧 Island Ice Ep. 122: Next game nears, IslesGirl3, Amanda Stein, Newsday “The Isles still are scheduled to face the Devils on Jan. 13, plus our fan segment returns with guest IslesGirl3, and Devils reporter Amanda Stein joins in to discuss the team ahead of the Isles game.”
🎧 Hockey Press Pass: Aaron Ward on His Gambling Addiction, the Cost to His NHL Career and Life, and Recovery, Chris Botta “In a raw interview, former NHL defenseman Aaron Ward shares the complete details of the depths of his gambling addiction and how it led to his arrest after a domestic incident (later expunged) and enrollment in the NHL/NHLPA Behavioral Health Program.”
🔗 Palmieri Benched? Vets Out of Islanders New Lines, Stefan Rosner, NYIHockeyNow “Trotz told the media that when Palmieri was indeed ready to return, management would see where to put him back in, as others had been performing quite well in his absence.”
🔗 The Bridgeport Report: Jan. 11, 2022, Alan Fuehring, newyorkislanders.com “Forwards Michael Dal Colle and Otto Koivula both extended their personal point streaks to at least five games, and Arnaud Durandeau logged an assist in each contest. Jakub Skarek won two games in the crease and split time with Cory Schneider, who returned to action for the first time since Dec. 15th and improved his personal unbeaten in regulation streak to five games (3-0-2).”
And we leave you with this…original Islander Bill Mikkelson’s daughter Meaghan was named to Team Canada’s Winter Olympics’ team for the third time. She tells her incredible story of how she rebounded from a major knee injury.
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