Islanders Waivers News: Nine Players Waived
As the New York Islanders continue to trim their roster, they placed eight skaters and one goalie on waivers on Oct. 6. Otto Koivula, Cole Bardreau, Dmytro Timashov, Andy Andreoff, Grant Hutton, Paul LaDue, Parker Wotherspoon, Mitch Vande Sompel, and Ken Appleby were on the waiver list as reported by The Athletic’s Arthur Staple.
Koivula has been the first center up from Bridgeport for the past few years. The problem for him is that the Islanders have one of the deepest center groups in the NHL. Koivula has the upside to be a good bottom-six forward in the NHL so a team may take a chance on him.
Bardreau is in a similar position. Last year, he spent the whole season with Bridgeport wearing an “A” and putting up 10 goals and 16 points in 24 games. Bardreau’s only NHL experience came in part due to a Koivula injury so don’t expect to see him up unless there are injuries.
The Islanders took a flier on Timashov via a trade involving future considerations prior to last season. He only played one game with the big club but is back in a depth role. Expect to see a lot of him in Bridgeport and a possible call-up after an injury or if Barry Trotz is looking for a change.
Andreoff is a bottom-six tough guy. Unfortunately for him, the Islanders have Matt Martin in the starting lineup and won’t send down Ross Johnston currently, so Andreoff goes to Bridgeport. The Johnston situation is interesting. Lou Lamoriello has hesitated to put him through waivers since signing him to a four-year, $4 million deal in 2018. As Elliott Friedman points out: “Over the past couple of seasons, the Islanders avoided putting Ross Johnston on waivers. They know there’d be interest. It’s hard to say how their salary-cap picture will look until all contracts are revealed, but other clubs are keeping an eye out.” Andreoff likely won’t see time in the NHL with the Islanders unless two of Martin, Johnston, and Cal Clutterbuck miss time together, and even then, Leo Komarov seems like the first option in that department.
Hutton and LaDue are low on the defensive depth chart. Expect them to play roles in Bridgeport but you won’t hear anything about them outside of that. Hutton has been with the organization for a few years while LaDue was brought in this year in free agency as a veteran presence in the minor league system.
The Islanders drafted Vande Sompel and Wotherspoon in 2015 in the third and fourth round, respectively, and they have been staples in Bridgeport the past few years. Both are always around during training camp but neither has been able to crack the NHL roster. Maybe one of them can grab a 7th defenseman role in a couple of years.
Appleby was signed in the middle of last season to play in Bridgeport and re-signed to give the Islanders a goalie to expose in the expansion draft with Ilya Sorokin being ineligible. Seeing him on waivers confirms Cory Schneider as the third goalie although he may be the backup to start the year with Semyon Varlamov yet to suit up this preseason.
