This is a good problem for the Islanders to have, but that will not be any kind of consolation to those who will be on the wrong end of it.
A mere six months ago, Isaiah George’s path to making the NHL roster looked pretty clear-cut. Mike Reilly’s contract was expiring, it was unlikely the Islanders would bring him back and George was the obvious person to step into the void on the third pair’s left side.
That, of course, was before 7-11-12-13 came up at the draft lottery, giving the Islanders the right to draft Matthew Schaefer and, unwittingly, blowing up George’s spot.
Now, the same depth chart that was easy to envision George sliding into looks like an impossible puzzle for the 21-year-old from Oakville, Ontario. Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Alexander Romanov, Tony DeAngelo, Scott Mayfield and Adam Boqvist are all established NHL players. Schaefer is the No. 1 pick and has put nary a foot wrong in training camp. That is seven guys who, barring injury, are reasonably entrenched on the NHL roster, which leaves George out of the lineup and, very possibly, in Bridgeport to start the season.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
