Just in time for AHL Training Camp, the nine New York Islanders that were placed on waivers on October 6th, have cleared. Those players were Otto Koivula, Cole Bardreau, Dmytro Timashov, Andy Andreoff, Grant Hutton, Paul LaDue, Parker Wotherspoon, Mitch Vande Sompel, and Ken Appleby. They will all report to the Bridgeport Islanders and will likely be valuable members of their roster this year, and some could get a call-up to the NHL at one point or another due to injuries. You can read up on the players who were placed on waivers here.

Now that they all successfully cleared waivers, what does that mean for the construction of the Islanders roster?

When it comes to the goaltending, it can clearly be seen that Semyon Varlamov not practicing has now raised concern for the Islanders as Cory Schneider sticks around as the possible backup goaltender to start the year, and may even stay as a third goaltender in the near future as Varlamov gets back up to speed.

For the Islanders defense core, it seems to be that six players have spots locked up—Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Scott Mayfield, Noah Dobson, Andy Greene, and Zdeno Chara. If Barry Trotz and the Islanders coaching staff chooses to keep one more defenseman, it seems like Sebastian Aho has the upper hand as of this moment. Trotz has been impressed with the Swede this year, and since he is waivers eligible, he seems primed to be the Islanders’ seventh defenseman on the roster this year. The other primary option for the seventh defenseman spot is Erik Gustafsson, who is still on a PTO.

Thomas Hickey will require waivers, but some of his cap hit, which is $2.5 million, could be buried if he goes to the AHL, freeing up a small amount of cap space. Robin Salo and Samuel Bolduc are waivers ineligible and are expected to be key members of the Bridgeport blueline this season.

At forward, the Islanders likely have their starting 12 set in Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, Anthony Beauvillier, Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey, Zach Parise, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Oliver Wahlstrom, Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck. Per Arthur Staple of The Athletic, the Islanders are likely to have two extra forwards on the roster. Kieffer Bellows and Richard Panik are being discussed as “top-six replacements”, while Panik, Ross Johnston, Michael Dal Colle, and Leo Komarov are being discussed for the “bottom-six replacement”.

All of the listed forwards would require waivers to be sent down. Leo Komarov, like Hickey, is an unlikely candidate to be claimed due to his salary cap hit of $3 million. Panik has a cap hit of $1.375 million as the Detroit Red Wings are retaining half of his salary for the remainder of the contract. Every other forward that was on the Islanders’ training camp roster has been waived, loaned, or sent down to Bridgeport as they are getting their camp underway, and a few of the above players might join them there fairly soon.

This might be the perfect chance for Bellows to keep a spot on the NHL roster as he has performed well in the preseason and continues to find a role that fits him at the NHL level. Panik and Johnston seem to be the favorites for the roles, as for the latter of the two, Elliott Friedman mentioned in his latest 32 Thoughts that there is interest in Johnston around the league, and he might be claimed on waivers if the Islanders do choose to make that transaction.

The Islanders start their regular season schedule on October 14th in Carolina, and Barry Trotz will make the right decisions prior to then regarding what the roster will look like as the Islanders start with their season-opening 13-game road trip.

SEF