When the Islanders were making their depth signings this past offseason, one of them definitely stood out. Former Philadelphia Flyers farmhand Cole Bardreau was headed to the Islanders on a two-year, two-way contract worth $700K a year. The expectation was for him to play in Bridgeport this season. Well, that was not the case when a multitude of injuries hit the Islanders’ bottom-six forward core, and Bardreau got his shot in the spotlight.

The Good:

Expectations were not high for Cole Bardreau when he was called up to the Islanders, serving as a plug-in option when fourth-line mainstay Casey Cizikas went down with an injury in mid-October. Bardreau made his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 19th, an Islanders 3-2 overtime victory. Bardreau impressed the Islanders’ coaching staff during his first NHL game, playing 8:54 on the fourth-line.
Bardreau was playing a big role on the fourth line during the first part of the Islanders’ dominant 17-game point streak they had through October and November, suiting up for an 8-0-1 stretch of the streak. He played well defensively, as that was the main reason he was up. Bardreau was never a top point-getter in college with Cornell University or in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
He was then returned on loan to the Sound Tigers, where he was in-and-out of the lineup due to some injuries, and played one more NHL game this season so far, the 5-0 loss against the Nashville Predators on February 13. He = scored one goal and added an assist in his ten games this season, tallying six penalty minutes and was a -2. The numbers are not showing, but Bardreau played impactful time for the Islanders when they were on their best run of the season.

The Bad:

There isn’t really much bad to describe for Cole Bardreau’s stint in the NHL this season, but one thing that sticks out is that he had a tough time in the face-off circle. For someone who has been described as a strong defensive center, Bardreau had a tough time in this area during his ten games.
Bardreau only won 21 of 50 face-offs this year during his time as the fourth-line center, good enough for a 42% face-off percentage, which is definitely not as high as the expectation is for a bottom-six center. He also had some injury troubles of his own this season, coming in-and-out of the Sound Tigers lineup for a portion of the season, and had some day-to-day action on the NHL side as well.

The Expectations:

Bardreau did not have a lot of expectations once he came up to the NHL, but what he was viewed as was a defensive center. He definitely exceeded expectations, but the one thing lacking was his defense. Overall, he was supposed to come up as a filler but became an important aspect of the team.

The Moment of the Season:

In Cole Bardreau’s seventh NHL game, a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators, he had the opportunity of a lifetime. At 15:34 of the second period, Mark Borowiecki interfered with Bardreau as he was on a breakaway, leading to a great moment.
Bardreau was awarded a penalty shot, allowing him to potentially score the first goal of his young NHL career on a penalty shot. Well, that is exactly what he did, beating Craig Anderson five-hole to do so. Bardreau finished that game playing 10:42, with two shots, the game-winning-goal, and a +1 rating.

The Verdict:

When he was up on the NHL roster, Cole Bardreau performed above expectations, filling in for one of the most important Islanders in Casey Cizikas. His grade goes down a tick due to his faceoff abilities and his durability issues, but overall, he performed tremendously while on the Islanders this season.

The Grade: 87/B+

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