The Islanders were without Noah Dobson for most of Thursday’s victory over Montreal and he will miss at least one more as the team announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury; he wasn’t in uniform this afternoon against the Rangers. Dobson is in the middle of a breakout year as he sits second on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 60 assists in 79 appearances; his assist total is tied for fifth among all NHL rearguards. On top of the offensive production, the 24-year-old is also logging a career-high 24:31 per night so his absence is a crucial one with the Isles right in the thick of the battle for a playoff spot.
Islanders Rumors
Islanders Linked To Andrea Glauser
The Islanders have been heavily scouting Swiss free agent defenseman Andrea Glauser and are expected to pursue him aggressively this offseason, reports Emmanuel Favre Montreal of LeMatin.ch. Albeit via translation, Montreal reports both GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Patrick Roy have personally scouted Glauser this season, and a source told him the Isles could offer a contract as rich as $1.5MM on a one-year deal, unusually high for an undrafted free agent that hasn’t had much other documented NHL interest.
Glauser, who turned 28 last week, is a transition-minded defender with a rather physical game. He’s spent the entirety of his professional career in the Swiss National League, playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron and SCL Tigers before landing with Lausanne HC in 2021. He’s served as an alternate captain there for all three years of his tenure, and his 2023-24 campaign is still ongoing as they’re alive in the semifinals of the NL playoffs.
His point totals have never jumped off the page. He posted four goals and 16 points in 47 regular-season games this season, in line with his 0.31 career point-per-game average in the NL. He’s become somewhat of a mainstay on the Swiss national team in his prime, though, appearing for the country in back-to-back World Championships. The 6’0″ right-shot blue-liner has never taken home any major pieces of hardware at home or internationally.
Glauser is too old for an entry-level contract, so the Isles would need to offer him a standard deal, eliminating the potential for performance bonuses and meaning all his money is guaranteed. The willingness to offer him $1.5MM on a contract suggests it would be a one-way agreement, too, offering them no cash discount if he’s assigned to the minors. That cap hit is above the buried threshold of $1.15MM, too, meaning he’d still cost the Islanders $350K against the cap if sent to the AHL.
The Isles’ transition game from their defensemen has suffered with the slight declines of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, although Noah Dobson’s emergence as a top-15 defender has quieted some of those worries. Glauser would likely replace veteran Robert Bortuzzo, a pending UFA, as the fourth right-shot defenseman on their depth chart behind Dobson, Pulock and Scott Mayfield.
Islanders’ Scott Mayfield Out For Season
The New York Islanders have announced that defenseman Scott Mayfield had successful surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season. They didn’t make any official announcements regarding the nature of the procedure but did say that the 31-year-old is expected to make a full recovery and shouldn’t have any issues completing his summer training regimen.
Mayfield hasn’t played for over a month and had been dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of the season. He was initially placed on the LTIR and was expected to be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Many speculated at that time that his season could be done and with today’s announcement, the team has made it official.
After a career year last season, Mayfield struggled to play this season with the injury and had also increased expectations after signing a new seven-year contract extension last summer. While he’s never offered much offensively, his underlying numbers fell off a cliff as he has struggled to get around the ice. Mayfield had just five assists in 41 games this season, after posting a career-high six goals and 18 assists in 82 games last season.
With six years left on his contract, his recovery will be an important factor for the Islanders next season if they would once again like to contend for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Islanders Sign Cam Thiesing To Entry-Level Deal
The Islanders have signed undrafted free agent center Cam Thiesing to a two-year entry-level contract beginning next season, per a team announcement. The Tennessee native will likely finish 2023-24 on a tryout with AHL Bridgeport.
Thiesing, 23 next week, was initially eligible for selection in the 2019 draft but was on few scouting departments’ radars after recording 39 points in 54 games with the Chippewa Steel of the NAHL, the second-tier junior league in the U.S. system. He played two more seasons with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL, one level up, but wasn’t given draft selection as an overage player there, either.
After wrapping up his junior career in 2021, Thiesing joined Ohio State University for a three-year run. Thiesing actually had decreasing production throughout his seasons at the school. He started with a strong freshman campaign, posting 25 points and a team-leading +21 rating for the Buckeyes in 2021-22, but dropped to 20 points last season and even further to nine goals and 16 points in 31 games this year on a team that finished last in the Big 10 conference.
Unfortunately, Thiesing’s season ended prematurely due to injury. He missed the Buckeyes’ final two games and their four Big Ten tournament games, including a major quarterfinal upset over Wisconsin. Overall, he finished his time at Ohio State with 32 goals, 29 assists, 61 points, 166 PIMs, and a +11 rating over 108 games.
The physical 6-foot, 183-lb right-shot center now joins an Isles prospect pool flush with similarly skilled talent, so he doesn’t move the needle much. Late-developing junior production and failure to advance his offensive game at the collegiate level aren’t promising signs for an NHL future, but his checking game and decent shot do give him an outside shot at cracking a team’s fourth line at some point. Thiesing will be an RFA when his contract expires in 2026.
Islanders Activate Bortuzzo Off LTIR
- The Islanders have activated defenseman Robert Bortuzzo off LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 34-year-old was acquired from St. Louis back in December but then suffered a lower-body injury in early January, one that has kept him out for the last ten weeks. Bortuzzo has been limited to third-pairing duty in his 15 appearances so far this season as he’s averaging just 13:40 per night while chipping in with 20 hits and 21 blocked shots. Bortuzzo is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Robert Bortuzzo To Return Next Week
- Sticking in the Tri-State Area, Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello issued a handful of injury updates during his media availability Tuesday morning (via Arthur Staple of The Athletic). Depth blue-liner Robert Bortuzzo, who remains on LTIR with a lower-body injury, should return within a week. He put up a -3 rating in 11 games for the Isles after a mid-season trade from St. Louis before exiting the lineup in early January, now missing over two months with the ailment. He’ll give them a more experienced option to slot into the lineup as they stay in the race for a playoff spot and look to add some help before Friday’s deadline. Lamoriello added that veteran enforcer Matt Martin, who left Saturday’s win over the Bruins early, is cleared to play tonight against the Blues. The 34-year-old has three points and 31 PIMs in 38 games in what could be his final season with the team.
Islanders To Place Scott Mayfield On LTIR, Out 4-6 Weeks
11:02 a.m.: The Islanders made Mayfield’s LTIR placement official in an announcement, activating winger Hudson Fasching off LTIR in a corresponding transaction. Fasching could suit up tonight against the Blues for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury at the end of January.
10:30 a.m.: The Islanders will move defenseman Scott Mayfield to long-term injured reserve, GM Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday (via Arthur Staple of The Athletic). Mayfield, who has already missed four games with a lower-body injury, will miss an additional four to six weeks.
The 31-year-old was previously listed as day-to-day. He has not played since Feb. 22 against the Blues and has been dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury he sustained in the first game of the season, as he confirmed to Ethan Sears of the New York Post last month.
A six-week recovery timeline from today puts him back in the lineup for Game 82 of the regular season, a potential but unlikely playoff-berth-deciding matchup against the Penguins. Given the chronic nature of the Missouri native’s injury, he could be done for the regular season, allowing the Isles to use his $3.5MM cap hit by next Friday’s trade deadline to make a playoff push. Sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference and six points out of a playoff spot, they won’t be aggressive buyers, but Lamoriello said Tuesday that he’s open to adding if the acquisition cost makes sense.
Suppose Mayfield is done for the regular season. In that case, the injury ends a challenging first year of the seven-year, $24.5MM deal with trade protection he signed to stay on Long Island after briefly reaching unrestricted free agency on July 1. His five assists in 41 games are disappointing. However, his decline in usage from 21:02 last season to 18:46 this year is downright concerning this early in the contract, especially considering his career-worst possession metrics (40.0 Corsi-for percentage at even strength, -8.7 expected rating).
His absence could influence the Isles to focus on blue-line insurance over the next 72 hours. Their top four, Noah Dobson, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and Alexander Romanov, are passable for a playoff-bound team, especially considering Dobson’s resurgence, but a pair of fringe NHLers, Sebastian Aho and Mike Reilly, make up their bottom pairing with no better internal options. 23-year-old Samuel Bolduc remains on the roster after completing a recent conditioning stint in AHL Bridgeport. However, his possession metrics are among the worst on the team and trail Aho and Reilly’s decent even-strength play by a wide margin.
Assuming Mayfield’s LTIR placement is retroactive to his last appearance, he would be eligible to return on March 17 against the Rangers. However, his recovery timeline dictates he won’t play again until April at the earliest. He remains under contract with the Isles until 2030.
Islanders Recall Samuel Bolduc From Conditioning Loan
The Islanders have reinstated defenseman Samuel Bolduc after assigning him to AHL Bridgeport on a conditioning loan late last month, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. Bolduc remained on the active roster and counted against the cap while on his conditioning stint, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.
Bolduc, 23, scored a goal and earned a +2 rating in five games for Bridgeport over the past week and a half. It was his first minor-league action in 11 months after cracking the NHL roster out of training camp for the first time this season. The 2019 second-round pick has not played for the Isles since Jan. 27 and was a healthy scratch in seven straight before his assignment to Bridgeport. He’s averaged just 12:56 per game this season, the lowest among active Islanders defenders, and has three points and a -5 rating in 33 games. He’s struggled to control possession in his limited minutes, too, logging a 43.4 CF% at even strength.
Reece Newkirk Re-Assigned To ECHL
- The Islanders have re-assigned forward Reece Newkirk from AHL Bridgeport to ECHL Worcester, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old was brought up last month but played only once, bringing his games played total in the AHL to 13 on the season where he has a goal and two assists. A pending restricted free agent this summer, Newkirk appears to be trending toward non-tender territory in June.
Afternoon Notes: Tanev, Islanders, Granato, Keefe
The newest Dallas Stars defenseman, Chris Tanev, isn’t expected to slot into Dallas’ lineup immediately, per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Francis added that Tanev will stay in Calgary for a few days while he secures a visa. The Stars acquired Tanev from the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, sending two draft picks and defensive prospect Artem Grushnikov back to the Flames. Dallas also sent a fourth-round pick to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the Devils retaining 50 percent of Tanev’s cap hit.
Tanev, 34, was arguably the top name on the trade market, with a long list of teams interested in adding his defensive prowess. He only has 14 points in 56 games this season, but he led active Flames defensemen in both CF% (Corsi-For Percentage) and xGF% (expected goals-for percentage), speaking to his ability to control possession and scoring opportunities. Tanev has been in the league since the 2010-11 season, when he debuted with the Vancouver Canucks, who signed him as an undrafted free agent ahead of the season. He’s played in the NHL every season since, totaling 185 points and 773 games in the league. Dallas will mark the third team of Tanev’s career, after 10 years in Vancouver and four in Calgary.
Other notes from around the league:
- New York Islanders defenseman Robert Bortuzzo is still not skating, shares Ethan Sears of the New York Post. Bortuzzo rehabbing a lower-body injury that’s earned him a place on the team’s long-term injured reserve. He hasn’t played since January 2nd, forcing the Islanders to once again test their defensive depth. Sears also shared that the Islanders are expected to recall Hudson Fasching from his AHL conditioning stint, though he won’t be immediately activated off of LTIR. Fasching has one goal in three AHL games this season.
- The NHL has fined both Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe for unprofessional conduct directed at officials. Each coach was docked $25K. Keefe received a game misconduct for arguing with the refs about a Mitch Marner tripping call, continuing to question the refs even after Toronto had killed off the penalty. Granato received a bench penalty for arguing a Zach Benson tripping penalty, with the opposing Florida Panthers scoring the game-winning goal on the resulting five-on-three power-play. These fines follow a precedent set by the league that aims to reduce abuse of officials.