Former New York Islanders forward Michael Dal Colle is extending his stay overseas by signing a one-year deal with the DEL’s Iserlohn Roosters, per an announcement from the German club. The 2014 fifth-overall pick has not suited up in the NHL since a lone appearance with the Islanders in 2021-22.
To say Dal Colle’s career has stagnated since his draft year would be an understatement. He never stuck in the NHL full time, spending most of his pro tenure with the Islanders organization with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. The team cut ties with their former top prospect in the summer of 2022, letting him become a UFA by not issuing him a qualifying offer. With no other NHL offers, Dal Colle signed in Finland with Liiga club TPS, where he registered just four goals in 36 games. However, he did add a respectable 15 assists for 19 points in total.
Still, it’s far below expectations for Dal Colle, who now seems destined to play out the remainder of his pro career in Europe. The 27-year-old winger totaled just 112 NHL appearances for the Islanders across five seasons, scoring eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. It wasn’t a case of strong minors production not translating to the pros, either. He only had one standout year in the AHL, recording 18 goals and 34 points in 34 games for Bridgeport in 2018-19, but otherwise posted rather pedestrian point totals representative of a middle-six AHL forward.
In Iserlohn, Dal Colle joins a team stuck in the throes of DEL mediocrity – never good enough to advance deep in the postseason nor bad enough to get relegated to the DEL2, Germany’s second-tier pro league. In fact, the current iteration of the Roosters has never been demoted from the DEL since their inception in 2000-01, but they’ve yet to advance past the quarterfinals in the DEL’s postseason. Iserlohn has also missed the playoffs entirely in each of the past two seasons.
Dal Colle will look to regain some scoring confidence in Germany, while Iserlohn will bank on the former top-five pick producing well for them in an extended role. He joins former Tampa Bay Lightning defense prospect Ben Thomas and former Chicago Blackhawks forward Drew LeBlanc as players with NHL experience on Iserlohn’s roster.
The no. 5 pick used for Dal Colle has a Sabres subplot. The Sabres had the NYI 1st due to the Vanek trade, but it was top 10 protected. The wheels fell off the Isle that season and they were able to defer the first for a year.
Dal Calle was highly touted in his draft class; the NYI cannot be criticized for that pick. But boy am I happy that he was never Sabres property.