New York Islanders Recall Marc Gatcomb
The New York Islanders announced today that forward Marc Gatcomb has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders. This recall comes in the aftermath of an injury suffered by veteran winger Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri is expected to miss six to eight months with a torn ACL.
The team also announced that Palmieri has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to his injury date of Nov. 11. The IR placement created the necessary room on the team’s NHL roster to allow for the addition of Gatcomb.
This recall of Gatcomb allows the Islanders to further reinforce their forward group, a group that has been left depleted due to Palmieri’s injury, as well as an injury to center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Pageau is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Gatcomb is, of course, not a one-to-one replacement for either injured veteran. Palmieri had scored 18 points in 25 games before his injury, while Pageau had 12 points in 22 games and led all Islanders players in short-handed time on ice per game. Gatcomb, 26, has just nine points in 40 career NHL games, and has not been an overwhelming scorer at the AHL level either. It’s extremely unlikely the Islanders will be able to replace the production they’ve lost with this recall, but it’s also extremely unlikely that the Islanders made this recall in order to get Gatcomb’s offensive production.
Instead, it’s far more likely the Islanders are looking for a call-up player with competitiveness, a strong work rate, positional versatility, and the ability to occupy a specific depth role while they elevate other players to fill the larger roles left open due to these injuries. Rookie Maxim Shabanov is likely to be elevated to the top-six to fill Palmieri’s role, and after scoring 67 points in 65 KHL games last season, he’s a more obvious fit for a scoring line than Gatcomb.
Gatcomb is likely to slot into the Islanders’ bottom-six, and at 26 years old, it’s likely that if he is to become a full-time NHLer, that’s the kind of role he’d occupy. This recall is a significant opportunity for the former UConn Husky, who went undrafted and originally signed with the Canucks organization coming out of college. He’s a pending RFA (with arbitration rights) playing out a one-year, one-way $900K contract.
Gatcomb’s 40 NHL games without a doubt helped Gatcomb earn a one-way contract for 2025-26, and this recall now gives him a pretty extensive runway to get into some NHL games and carve out a more regular spot on the Islanders’ NHL roster. While there’s no direct financial difference in his salary between the NHL and AHL, the more NHL games he gets into, and plays well in, the better his contract options are likely to be this summer. And while it’s unlikely his upcoming restricted free agency reaches that point, getting into NHL games would also aid his case in a future arbitration battle.
Islanders Recall Marshall Warren
Oct. 24: The Islanders announced they’ve returned Highmore on loan to Bridgeport. He did not play in last night’s 7-2 drubbing of the Red Wings, essentially confirming he was only brought up to help maximize their LTIR capture. There’s now an open roster spot if the Islanders wish to bring Gatcomb back up to the active roster.
Oct. 23: The Islanders announced they’ve recalled forward Matthew Highmore and defenseman Marshall Warren from AHL Bridgeport. The team already had one open roster spot and assigned forward Marc Gatcomb to Bridgeport to open the other one after he cleared waivers today. In a corresponding move, they shifted winger Pierre Engvall from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve. The moves left them with just $6,482 in cap space before Engvall’s LTIR placement, meaning they can unlock up to $2,993,518 of his $3MM cap hit in relief as they need it.
Highmore will serve as a direct replacement for Gatcomb as the club’s 14th forward, although with their LTIR pool now set, they have enough cap flexibility to swap them again if they choose. Highmore already cleared waivers before the start of the season, so as long as he stays less than 30 days on the Islanders’ active roster, he can be returned to Bridgeport without needing to clear them again.
There’s a chance Highmore sticks ahead of Gatcomb for a while, though. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Isles in free agency over the offseason and has a significant leg up on Gatcomb in terms of NHL experience. If Highmore plays, he’d be playing in his eighth NHL season, and he already has 187 games under his belt with 14 goals and 35 points. Gatcomb, while three years younger, only made his NHL debut last year and has a 40-game resume at the NHL level.
Highmore is also off to a strong start with Bridgeport. After appearing in 41 regular-season games and one playoff game for the Senators last year, he was hoping to remain on an NHL opening night roster in 2025-26. While that didn’t happen, he’s taken the demotion in stride and has four assists through his first four games for the Baby Isles. The Nova Scotia native has 170 points in 235 career AHL appearances dating back to his pro debut in 2017 and has been a legitimately valuable fourth-liner at the NHL level at times, even slotting in on occasional penalty kills.
As for Warren, it’s his first NHL recall. The Long Island native was a sixth-round pick by the Wild back in 2019 but never signed with them, instead becoming a free agent and landing a contract with the Isles out of Michigan in 2024. The 6’0″, 185-lb lefty had an impressive training camp and has carried that momentum straight through to Bridgeport, leading the club in scoring with two goals and three assists for five points in four games with a plus-three rating.
The club was in need of an extra defenseman for their next few games after placing Alexander Romanov on injured reserve earlier today. There’s no guarantee the lefty Warren makes his NHL debut on this call-up, but with the Isles’ balance of lefties and righties currently at two and four, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Warren get a look at least once in place of Adam Boqvist, who’s been a healthy scratch in four of six games to start New York’s season and only entered the lineup when Romanov exited it.
Engvall’s LTIR placement will stick for the remainder of the campaign. He’s done for the year after undergoing ankle surgery.
Islanders Place Marc Gatcomb On Waivers
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the New York Islanders have placed depth forward Marc Gatcomb on waivers. The team will reassign him to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders tomorrow if he clears waivers.
Today’s waiver placement isn’t as much of a condemnation of Gatcomb’s play as it is a recognition of his spot on the totem pole. The Islanders desperately need to recall a defenseman due to Alexander Romanov‘s recent struggles with injuries. Other than Kyle MacLean, Gatcomb has one of the likeliest chances to pass through waivers unscathed.
Gatcomb had only skated in one game for the Islanders this year, skating in 8:33 of action. Although he didn’t register any points, he made himself known in the October 11th matchup against the Washington Capitals, laying seven hits on the opposition.
Regardless, it’s probably not the last time we’ll see him with New York this season. Gatcomb split the season last year, scoring eight goals and one assist in 39 NHL games, with another nine goals and 17 points in 35 AHL contests. A year before, he scored nine goals and 20 points in 61 games for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
Once Gatcomb is off the active roster tomorrow, either through reassignment or a waiver claim, it’s expected that the Islanders will recall Isaiah George or Marshall Warren to replace Romanov in the active lineup.
Islanders Re-Sign Marc Gatcomb
The Islanders have re-signed forward Marc Gatcomb to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. The restricted free agent lands a $900K commitment on a one-way deal, per PuckPedia, the first of his NHL career.
Gatcomb, who turns 26 later this month, lands the commitment after making his NHL debut in 2024-25. A minor-league depth signing by the Isles last summer, he ended up logging much more NHL ice than anyone expected, making 39 appearances and becoming a fourth-line fixture late in the season after his initial January call-up.
The 6’2″, 195-lb winger was one of the Islanders’ more physical forwards, ranking second on the team with 149 hits despite his limited game log and ice time. He averaged 9:47 per game but did manage eight goals, finishing at a likely unsustainable 19.5% clip.
Gatcomb, a Massachusetts native, has only ever signed NHL contracts with the Islanders. He was initially an undrafted free agent signing by Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, in 2022 out of UConn. He scored 12 goals, 16 assists, and 28 points in 112 games for the club in parts of three seasons before landing a two-way deal with the Isles last summer.
After also recording nine goals and 17 points in 35 AHL games for Bridgeport last season – respectable totals on the league’s worst club – Gatcomb’s focus turns toward making an NHL roster out of camp for the first time. He faces an uphill battle after the team added Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Shabanov to its forward group in free agency and acquired Emil Heineman from the Canadiens in the Noah Dobson trade, but there’s an opening for him to snag a spot as a No. 12/13/14 forward if he can leapfrog someone like Shabanov or fringe winger Pierre Engvall in camp.
The Islanders have six contract slots remaining after signing Gatcomb, per PuckPedia. One of those will eventually go to RFA winger Maxim Tsyplakov, who was among the 11 players who elected salary arbitration yesterday.
Islanders Place Hudson Fasching On IR
The Islanders moved winger Hudson Fasching to injured reserve on Friday, per The Hockey News’ Stefen Rosner. His roster spot goes to forward Marc Gatcomb, who comes up from AHL Bridgeport for the second time this week and will suit up in his second career NHL game Saturday against the Sharks.
Fasching, 29, has already missed four games with an upper-body injury, so he can come off IR at any time. He isn’t expected back until late next week, general manager Lou Lamoriello said.
The move keeps their already-open active roster spot open while still getting Gatcomb on the roster. They’ll need that additional roster spot for another forward recall if winger Maxim Tsyplakov, who earned a hearing Friday for an illegal check to the head against the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling in last night’s loss, gets a suspension as a result of his actions as well. The open spot could also go to winger Simon Holmström, who’s on IR and has missed seven games with an upper-body injury but was a full participant in practice Friday, per Rosner.
Fasching has been a non-factor with no points and a minus-six rating in 19 appearances this season. The Islanders waived the Wisconsin native to begin the season but recalled him from Bridgeport in late October after an injury to Anthony Duclair, and he’s managed to stay on the roster since with continuing injuries creating the need for an extra forward.
Now in his third season on Long Island, Fasching is averaging a career-low 8:56 per game, second-lowest on the team among qualified skaters ahead of Matt Martin. He’s in the back half of a two-year, one-way extension he signed after a 2022-23 campaign where he recorded a career-high 10 goals and 19 points in 49 games with a +10 rating.
Gatcomb, 25, made his NHL debut in Tuesday’s shutout loss to the Sens, skating 7:27 in place of the sick Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Pageau is back, but Gatcomb projects to enter the lineup to give veteran enforcer Martin a night off against San Jose. He has 17 points in 35 games for Bridgeport this season, his first in the Islanders organization after landing a two-way deal in free agency.
New York Islanders Return Marc Gatcomb To AHL
Jan. 15th: Eric Rosner of The Hockey News reports that Gatcomb has been returned to AHL Bridgeport, meaning the illness afflicting many of the Islanders’ players has passed. Gatcomb skated in 7:27 of ice time in his NHL debut yesterday evening, racking up four hits and one blocked shot.
Jan. 14th: The New York Islanders have used an emergency recall on forward Marc Gatcomb in advance of Tuesday’s game against Ottawa. The Islanders have been eligible for the move since placing Simon Holmstrom on injured reserve on January 7th, but opted to carry 12 forwards on their recent three-game road trip. They won all three games.
Gatcomb will join the Islanders upon their return home, though it’s not clear if he’ll get a crack at the NHL lineup. Gatcomb has a stout nine goals and 17 points in 34 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders – ranking him as the fifth-highest scorer on the team. He’s also recorded 18 penalty minutes and, surprisingly, no fighting majors. He was much quicker to drop the mitts with the Abbotsford Canucks, who signed him as an undrafted college free agent in 2021. He spent the bulk of the last three seasons in Abbotsford, filling a bottom-six role and ultimately totaling 28 points and 76 penalty minutes in 122 games with the club.
Gatcomb is a product of New England Prep hockey. He spent his high school years with The Frederick Gunn School, otherwise known as The Gunnery, and moved to the University of Connecticut in 2018. Gatcomb found his role of diligent, middle-six forward with the UConn Huskies. He climbed the lineup over the course of his four years and combined for 46 points in 124 games. He’ll stand as a responsible, right-shot bruiser who could step into the lineup for Pierre Engvall or Matt Martin, should head coach Patrick Roy want a different type of physical presence.
Islanders Sign Marc Gatcomb, Fredrik Karlström
The Islanders have signed depth forwards Marc Gatcomb and Fredrik Karlström to one-year deals. Gatcomb’s is a two-way pact worth $775K in the NHL and $125K in the AHL, per PuckPedia. PuckPedia also reported Karlström’s signing as a one-way pact yesterday, but CapFriendly has his deal as a two-way worth $775K in the NHL and $250K in the minors.
It’s the first NHL contract for Gatcomb, who turns 25 later this month. That makes him slightly too old for an entry-level contract, so this is a standard two-way deal. After finishing up a four-year stint at UConn in 2022, he’s spent the last two seasons on AHL contracts with the Canucks’ affiliate in Abbotsford, where he’s totaled 12 goals, 16 assists and 28 points in 112 games. Most of that offense came this past season, recording nine goals and 20 points in 61 games.
Gatcomb’s development has been a slow climb since his freshman year at UConn in 2018-19 when he scored just one goal in 31 games. Now an everyday fixture at the second-highest level in the North American pyramid, he’ll look to take another step forward this season after he’s presumably assigned to AHL Bridgeport during training camp.
Karlström, meanwhile, does have some NHL experience to his name. The third-round pick of the Stars in 2016 made eight appearances during brief call-ups for Dallas in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, posting one assist and a +3 rating while averaging 8:18 per night. Since coming to North America three years ago, he’s spent nearly all of his time on assignment to AHL Texas, where he compiled 47 goals and 99 points in 184 games. He played in all 72 regular-season games for Texas last year and produced a career-high 21 goals and 44 points, along with a +14 rating.
He’s the more likely of the pair to see an NHL call-up this season, but both are likely slated for Bridgeport to open the campaign.