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.