Saturday, September 23, 2017

Islanders Sign Kieffer Bellows to ELC & Mid-Point Notes on Isles Camp


Yesterday, our New York Islanders announced that 6’1, 201#, Kieffer Bellows agreed to terms on a three-year, ELC. Son of former NHL’er, Brian Bellows, Kieffer was a member of team U.S.A. National Development Program, where he helped his squad win a gold medal at the U-20 WJC this year, netting 2 goals in the finals. He also has an international bronze medal to his credit from the 2016 U18 WC with 5 & 3 for 8 pts. in 7 games at the tournament.


Per release, “A native of Edina, MN, Bellows scored 81 points (50 goals, 31 assists) in 62 games while with the United States National Team Development Program in 2015-16. He finished second on the club in scoring and became just the fourth player to score 50 goals in a season with the U.S. Under-18 team, joining Auston Matthews, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel.”


Bellows was the Isles first round selection (19th overall) in the 2016 National Hockey League Draft and had 14 points (7 & 7) in 34 games as a freshman with B.U. Bellows said he wanted to commit to playing the 2017-18 season for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, so the timing of the signing was a bit of a surprise to me. The only thing I could think of is that Bellows made an early impression to where the Isles feel he could be used in Bridgeport (when eligible) sooner rather than later, especially while they continue to observe if their rosters meet expectations. While talented, Bellows needs more fine tuning to play at the pro level and should be given every opportunity to develop properly.



The Islanders have been tuning up for their season with a rookie and team camp, and the buzz is starting with fan favorites, and “could-be” future stars getting a look by the staff and fans for the first time this summer. Per The Hockey News, the Islanders finished tied for 3rd (Caps) with 199 even strength goals (Pens & Wild) last season. Their PK is and has been very good. I think the ‘17-18 Isles could just be a PP away from a dominant team in the east. Can Buchberger & Gomez help put in the right man-up scheme in place for the team to take that jump and can Eberle & possibly Pulock raise the bar enough offensively to help get them there?


Our New York Islanders started camp roster with 52 players: 31 forwards, 16 defensemen, 5 goaltenders per Staple. Camp is a great way for the new coaching staff to gel, get to know their veterans and prospects and come together on who will best fit the needs of the new look team as they approach the 2017-18 NHL season. While the buzz on the eventual signing of John Tavares lingers, the players and prospects seem eager to get things back on track in Islanders country.


Arthur Staple got a couple of quotes that caught my attention for sure. “Clutterbuck on Sunday's Coliseum game: ‘It's the first time I've seen so many veterans say they want to play the first preseason game." And with the vacancies and injuries reported prior to camp, the prospects are fired up as well. “Scott Mayfield on #Isles D: "Everyone knows what Travis meant to the organization. But now there's also a spot open there and I want it."


So the Isles opened their preseason against the Flyers with a 3-2 OT win at the sold out (13,917) refurbished Coliseum. Hey followed up with a controversial (goal disallowed) 1-0 OT loss to the Rangers, a split squad 3-2 win and 3-2 OT loss against the Flyers. Last night against the Rangers, the Isles pulled off a 2-1 win in Bridgeport in the Webster Bank Arena at Harbour yard. The warm-up schedule finishes with the Devils in Brooklyn on Monday, at Sabres on Friday and another tilt against the Flyers in Philadelphia on October 1st, before their October 6th season opener at Columbus.


On the pre-season stat sheet, the Isles had some regulars and some exciting names contribute offensively so far. Barzal, Beauvillier, Eberle, Lee, Pulock and Tavares all have 2 points so far, with Barzal and JT scoring 2 goals each. Cizikas, Boychuk, Ladd and Devon Toews all have a goal to their credit. In all, 17 players have registered at least a point out of the 47 players to see varying degrees of action and playing time during camp, including goalies.


Speaking of goaltenders, Jaroslav Halak still has that axe to grind and he doesn’t seem to want to go away quietly. Halak has seen action in 2 games, gotten a win and stopped 52 of 53 shots, posting a .60gaa and a 981Sv%. Thomas Greiss has played in 1 game and posted a 1.50gaa with a .944Sv%. Minor leaguers, Christopher Gibson (2 games, 1 win, 2.00gaa and .900Sv%), Eamon McAdam (1 game, 2.61gaa and .950Sv%) and Kristers Gudlevskis (2 games, 1 win, 3.50gaa and .864Sv%) got a look as well and gave the coaches at Bridgeport some data as they prepare for their own camp opening on Monday.


Arthur Staple had a few roster updates for the team at the mid-point of camp.

He mentioned the first major shift of players went down and likely bound for Bridgeport in time for their Monday open to camp. 

That leaves 31 players remaining in main group, (18 F, 9 D and 4 G).

The full list of moves, releases, waivers and remaining players can be found in this update per release:


Sebastian Aho, Kyle Burroughs, Michael Dal Colle, Tanner Fritz, Ross Johnston, Kane LaFranchise, Eamon McAdam, Kyle Schempp, John Stevens, Devon Toews, Mitchell Vande Sompel and Parker Wotherspoon.

Six other players were released from their professional tryout contracts: Casey Bailey, Scott Eansor, Jeff Kubiak, Ben Holmstrom, Travis St. Denis and Yannick Turcotte

The Islanders also placed the following players on waivers: Christopher Gibson, Kristers Gudlevskis, Seth Helgeson and Connor Jones.

The Isles also returned Kieffer Bellows, Arnaud Durandeau and David Quenneville to their junior clubs. - Staple


Per Release, the Islanders roster looks like this as of this afternoon:

Forwards:

Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Steve Bernier, Jason Chimera, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Jordan Eberle, Stephen Gionta, Joshua Ho-Sang, Connor Jones, Nikolay Kulemin, Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Shane Prince**, Alan Quine** & John Tavares

Defensemen:

Johnny Boychuk, Calvin de Haan, Seth Helgeson, Thomas Hickey, Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelec, Ryan Pulock, Dennis Seidenberg

Goaltenders:

Christopher Gibson, Thomas Greiss, Kristers Gudlevskis, Jaroslav Halak

** - denotes player on injured reserve


Today’s practice showed (Staple) the lines of Lee-Tavares-Eberle, Ladd-Barzal-Bailey, Beau-Nelson-Ho-Sang, Kulemin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck & Chimera-Gionta-Bernier. First PP unit of Leddy-Barzal-Lee-Tavares-Eberle and 2nd unit of Pulock-Bailey-Ho-Sang-Nelson-Ladd, with Boychuk and de Haan included in the drill work. Pelech (Signed one-way, 4 year deal in late July) and Mayfield have more NHL experience and are the guys I feel are fighting for the open defensive spot, despite the attractive idea of Pulock sticking around, especially on the PP. Like all young D-men, Pulock needs to sharpen his skills a little more defensively before he can make the AHL to NHL leap.





Isles Notes:


Per Dan Saraceni at Lighthouse Hockey, “Beyond nostalgia, Ledecky gives update on team’s Belmont RFP bid.”


On 9/20 per Chris Botta, “Will be writing 2-3 #Isles columns a week starting Oct. 3. Got ideas, tips, opinions (ha!)? Please place in replies or email. Thx!”


Per Arthur Staple, “Weight outlined staff responsibilities: Cronin runs PK, Buchberger/Gomez on PP, Richardson runs the D. Gomez eye in the sky for games.”


9/13, “Casey Bailey, attending #Isles camp on a PTO, was in attendance today. So were Steve Bernier and Seth Helgeson, both on two-way deals.”


On 9/12, Isles Blog did a twitter poll for #isles season ticket holders getting close to 600 votes. “For ticket holders, if #Isles ended up with a short term situation that had games at BOTH Barclays and Coliseum, how would that impact you?” 18% said worse, 19% said no change and 63% said better.


Per Randi Marshall, “Talked to Brett Yormark today, who's hoping yesterday's Coliseum game is "first step" to bringing #isles back.”




Sound Tigers Notes:


Matt Lane, Kellen Jones, Pat Cullity & Mike Cornell have agreed to #AHL deals.





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