New York Islanders Reassign Travis Mitchell
According to a team announcement, the New York Islanders have assigned defenseman Travis Mitchell to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. No corresponding roster move was made, so the Islanders will move forward with 22 players on the active roster for the time being.
The transaction was expected for a few reasons. Having played nine games, Mitchell was one contest away from being waiver-eligible. Additionally, if the Islanders want to recall Mitchell despite the prospect of exposing him through waivers, he will be eligible tomorrow, assuming he plays in Bridgeport’s game tonight.
Additionally, there’s some belief that the Islanders could turn to Isaiah George instead. George recently returned to the AHL Islanders after missing a month in concussion protocol. He’s scored one goal and five points in 16 AHL games this season with a +4 rating. He’s relatively accustomed to life in the NHL, too, having suited up in 33 games with New York last season.
Meanwhile, Mitchell’s only NHL minutes came this season. Across his nine games, he’s registered one goal while averaging 11:32 of ice time. He performed well on the defensive side of the puck in his limited usage, managing a 93.6% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
Regardless, the Islanders have some time before they need to make a decision. They don’t play again until Friday, and only have three games in the next 10 days. Even without Mitchell, they have six healthy defensemen on the active roster.
Islanders Recall Travis Mitchell
The Islanders announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled defenseman Travis Mitchell from AHL Bridgeport. Barring a surprise, he’ll serve as a healthy extra for tonight’s tilt against the Bruins. They had an open roster spot and thus don’t need to make a corresponding move.
This is the second time Mitchell has been summoned this month. He was added to the roster for two days from Nov. 13-15 while Scott Mayfield took a brief paternity leave. Mitchell was recalled in a similar manner last season, but despite this being his third stint on the Isles’ roster, he’s yet to make his NHL debut.
Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Cornell in 2023, the 6’4″ lefty has never profiled as anything more than minor-league depth. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Now in his third full season in the organization, he has five goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 119 career games for Bridgeport with 181 penalty minutes and a -33 rating. He was more of a puck-mover in juniors and in college, but has settled in more as a physical stay-at-home piece in the pros.
That makes him an ideal candidate to roster as a seventh defenseman when the Islanders don’t anticipate using their healthy extra for a lengthy stretch. While he’ll need waivers to return to Bridgeport if he stays up for longer than 30 nonconsecutive days, that’s not much of a concern, as he’s not likely to drum up much consideration for a claim.
The 26-year-old could be in for a more extended stint in the Isles’ press box this time around. With Alexander Romanov‘s right shoulder surgery likely costing him the remainder of the regular season, New York will lean further into its organizational depth on the blue line. They’re not keen on recalling more promising blueliners like Isaiah George or Marshall Warren unless it means getting them into the NHL lineup. Unless their defense corps suffers another injury or they’re looking to scratch someone from their current group, Mitchell could stick around as the No. 7 for the foreseeable future.
Metro Notes: Devils, Carlson, Borgen, Mitchell
Despite recent injuries affecting the New Jersey Devils, there is light at the end of the tunnel. According to team reporter Amanda Stein, the Devils are expected to welcome back defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Connor Brown to practice on Monday.
Hamilton, who’s tied as the highest-paid defenseman on New Jersey’s roster, hasn’t played since November 6th due to an undisclosed injury. The injury to Hamilton has left the Devils’ blue line relatively devastated, as they’re also without Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic on the right side. Despite missing the last few games, Hamilton is third on the team in scoring among defensemen with three goals and seven points in 14 games.
Meanwhile, Brown was just recently placed on the team’s injured reserve yesterday with an undisclosed injury. Since his injury designation was retroactive to October 30th, Brown is eligible to return whenever healthy. He’s scored five goals in his first 11 games with New Jersey this season.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- On the flip side of New Jersey’s game tonight, the Washington Capitals are playing without their longest-tenured defenseman. Before the game, Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post reported that blueliner John Carlson is dealing with an upper-body injury, and he didn’t participate in tonight’s contest. Fortunately, there’s no indication it’s expected to be a long-term issue for Carlson, who could return to the action in the Capitals’ next game.
- Staying on the blue line, the New York Rangers are also without a usual defenseman tonight. The Rangers announced that William Borgen, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury, would not appear in tonight’s contest. In his first full year with the Rangers, Borgen has scored one goal and three points in his first 18 contests, averaging 18:43 of ice time.
- On the other side of New York, the New York Islanders announced that they’ve returned defenseman Travis Mitchell to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Although he participated in warmups before last night’s win against the Utah Mammoth, Mitchell has yet to debut in the NHL. He’s registered three assists in 12 games for the AHL Islanders this year.
Islanders Recall Travis Mitchell
The Islanders announced they’ve recalled defenseman Travis Mitchell from AHL Bridgeport. Defenseman Scott Mayfield was moved to the non-roster list to open up a spot for him, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. He’s unavailable against the Golden Knights tonight while on paternity leave.
Mitchell, 25, wasn’t at the Islanders’ morning skate in Vegas, Rosner reports, and is still on his way to join the club. He won’t be a factor tonight unless he has to be because of a last-minute injury. It will be Adam Boqvist drawing into third-pairing duties with Alexander Romanov in Mayfield’s place, per Rosner.
If Mitchell gets any playing time while Mayfield is out, it would be his NHL debut. He was recalled for a week last November but was scratched for every game. The 6’4″ lefty was an undrafted free agent signing out of Cornell in 2023. While his entry-level contract expired after last season, the Isles extended him a qualifying offer and then re-upped him on a two-way deal to keep him in the organization for 2025-26. He’ll be eligible to test unrestricted free agency at the end of the season via Group VI status.
Mitchell has been a heavy hitter for Bridgeport, but not a ton else. In 12 appearances this season, the Michigan native has three assists with a -1 rating and 27 penalty minutes. He racked up 101 PIMs last year but was also limited to 13 points with a -22 rating in 65 games.
As for Mayfield, he’s done well to re-establish himself this season in year three of his seven-year, $24.5MM contract. He’s played in all 16 games this season after being benched at times over the last two years and is averaging 18:48 of ice time per game, his highest since the 2022-23 season. The shutdown rearguard has three assists and a +1 rating but only has 11 hits, by far the lowest per game of his career.
Waivers: 9/26/25
The following players have hit waivers for pending AHL assignments today as camp cuts continue, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic. Everyone waived yesterday cleared, per PuckPedia.
Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Islanders
F Liam Foudy, F Julien Gauthier, D Cole McWard, D Travis Mitchell
Utah Mammoth
Washington Capitals
D Calle Rosen, F Spencer Smallman
Fedotov is the most eye-popping name here, but it’s not unexpected. It was clear after they acquired the netminder from the Flyers that they didn’t anticipate having him on the NHL roster as part of a three-goalie rotation with Jet Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins and would place him on waivers during camp with the hope he’d clear and report to AHL Cleveland. Today is that day. They’re hoping his $3.275MM cap hit, albeit on an expiring deal, is enough of a deterrent for clubs not to claim the former KHL Goalie of the Year and highly-touted prospect. He posted a 6-13-4 record, .880 SV%, and 3.15 GAA in 26 appearances in his rookie season in Philly last year. If he clears and heads to Cleveland, he’ll still count for $2.125MM against the Jackets’ books.
None of the four names from the Islanders were expected to make legitimate ploys for a roster spot. Foudy and Gauthier are experienced names who will be high on the list of recall options from Bridgeport when the season gets underway, though. The duo combined for just three NHL appearances in 2024-25 but were among the farm club’s leading scorers. McWard and Mitchell will have a harder time finding opportunities to fill in on the NHL blue line and are likely ticketed to spend the whole year in Bridgeport behind more intriguing depth options like Ethan Bear and Isaiah George.
Connauton, 35, has 360 games of NHL experience but hasn’t appeared at the top level since the 2021-22 season. He’s slated to spend a fourth consecutive season in the minors as a result. He’s playing out the back half of the two-year, two-way deal he signed with Utah last summer. He served as an alternate captain for the club’s AHL partner in Tucson, posting a 6-11–17 scoring line with a -5 rating in 56 appearances while racking up 78 PIMs.
Rosen signed a two-way deal with the Caps this summer after spending last year in the minors in the Avalanche organization, where he had 34 points in 62 games for the Colorado Eagles. He’s got semi-considerable NHL experience with 93 games under his belt and will be among Washington’s top recall options from Hershey should they need an offensive-minded defender to fill in. Smallman, 29, is entering his ninth professional season without any NHL action to speak of. He signed a two-year, two-way extension with the club back in April to keep him with Hershey through 2026-27. He posted a career-high 10-24–34 scoring line in 62 games for the Bears last year.
Islanders Re-Sign Travis Mitchell
The Islanders have now re-signed the last of their unsigned defensemen as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Travis Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Mitchell $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and has a guaranteed salary of $125K.
The 25-year-old joined New York in 2023, signing an entry-level contract as an unrestricted free agent. That came on the heels of a solid NCAA showing with Cornell, including a 19-point senior season in 2022-23.
Mitchell joined AHL Bridgeport soon after leaving, getting into a handful of games with them to start his professional career. He also has spent the last two seasons in the minors with Bridgeport and is coming off a 2024-25 effort that saw him record 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 65 games.
Mitchell will be waiver-eligible for the first time this coming season but it’s likely that he won’t be claimed, allowing him to continue his development with Bridgeport under new head coach Rocky Thompson, a former blueliner himself. Mitchell will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.
With this agreement, the Islanders are down to one remaining RFA to re-sign, winger Maxim Tsyplakov. He was among the list of 11 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month with hearings set to run between July 20th and August 4th. The hearing schedule is yet to be released so it’s unclear exactly how much time GM Mathieu Darche has to try to get the 26-year-old signed without needing to have the salary decided by an arbitrator.
Metropolitan Notes: Mitchell, Lindgren, Thompson, Markström, Chytil
The Islanders returned defenseman Travis Mitchell to AHL Bridgeport on Wednesday, per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News.
Mitchell’s first NHL recall came and went without an appearance. He was recalled last week to serve as an extra defender with Adam Pelech, Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov all out with injuries on the back end, but served as a healthy scratch in three straight games before yesterday’s reassignment. He was no longer needed with Romanov returning to action against the Flames on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Mitchell is in just his second full season with the Isles organization after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Cornell in 2023. The 6’4″, 205-lb lefty had three points, 21 PIMs and a -2 rating with Bridgeport prior to last week’s summons. He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract and is ticketed for restricted free agency next summer.
The Islanders now have an open roster spot, so as things stand, they won’t need to make a corresponding transaction whenever their next injured player is ready to return. Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair, in addition to Pelech and Reilly, are all either on IR or LTIR.
There’s more from the Metropolitan Division:
- Capitals fans got some concerning news when goaltenders Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson both left practice this morning, but both are good to dress tonight against the Avalanche, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Thompson, who’s pretty much rotated starts evenly with Lindgren, will get the start. Acquired by trade from the Golden Knights at the 2024 draft, Thompson has been the far better of the two netminders with an 8-0-1 record, .913 SV%, 2.63 GAA and 3.5 GSAA in nine appearances.
- Devils goaltender Jacob Markström will start Thursday against the Hurricanes, according to the club’s Amanda Stein, marking his milestone 500th career appearance. He’ll become the 81st goalie in NHL history to cross the threshold, with Cam Talbot and Andrei Vasilevskiy likely to follow before the New Year. The 34-year-old has provided the stability to New Jersey’s crease they so desperately desired in his first season in the Garden State, posting an 8-5-1 record with a .907 SV% and 2.58 GAA while starting 14 of their 21 games.
- Despite joining the team on the road, Rangers center Filip Chytil won’t return to the lineup tonight in Calgary, reports Peter Baugh of The Athletic. He wasn’t on the ice for morning skate as he’ll miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. Previous reports indicate the 25-year-old avoided a concussion when he left a Nov. 14 game against the Sharks after colliding with teammate K’Andre Miller, a good sign for the youngster who was limited to just 10 regular-season games in 2023-24 with concussions. Through 15 appearances, the 2017 first-round pick has four goals and five assists for nine points.
Islanders Place Mike Reilly On IR, Recall Travis Mitchell
The New York Islanders have shifted defender Mike Reilly to injured reserve and recalled defender Travis Mitchell, per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Reilly hasn’t played since November 1st, when he hit his head on the ice after a hit from Buffalo Sabres forward Jordan Greenway. Reilly has since been labeled as out with an upper-body injury, though it seems his concerns are concussion-related.
Reilly went without any scoring in the 11 games he appeared in before injury, with one penalty, three hits, and four blocked shots standing as the only changes to his statline. He’s nonetheless been an impactful pickup for the Islanders, playing in 59 games with the team last season after an October waiver claim. Serving in a third-pair role, Reilly put up six goals and 24 points – the former a career-high, and the latter the highest he’s managed with a single club. He’s been a stout, two-way depth defender for the last decade, with a career that’s taken him through stops with six different clubs.
Reilly’s absence lined up closely with Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov‘s exit from the lineup, depleting the entirety of New York’s left-side defense. The team has turned towards a list of defenders in response – calling up Samuel Bolduc, Grant Hutton, and Isaiah George to join Dennis Cholowski in rotating through the open spots. Cholowski is the only one to score of the bunch, with two goals in eight games, though it’s been George who’s jumped off the page in his first four NHL games.
With a continued lack of production from their depth, the Islanders will now add to the rotation by awarding Travis Mitchell the first NHL call-up of his career. Mitchell is a Cornell University who joined the Islanders organization as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He totaled 47 points in 95 games at Cornell but has since struggled to find his stride in the minors, with just seven points across 48 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders across the last three seasons. Still, Mitchell has proven a lanky and capable defender, making an impact through heavy hitting and active defending. He’ll try to bring a spark to an Islanders lineup that’s gone 3-4-2 across their last nine games.