Opening night is right around the corner and as the closer we get to opening night the Islanders will continue to trim their roster. New York’s Ahl affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers will open their training camp Monday and the first round of cuts happened today.

The Islanders waived Ben Holmstrom and Bracken Kearns today and have also sent down Loic Leduc, Carter Verhaeghe and Kyle Schempp. All of these players will report to Sound Tigers training camp. New York also released Josh Winquist from his PTO. I would expect a second round of cuts to come after the Isles preseason game in Bridgeport on Saturday.

With the World Cup over, the teams representatives are on their way to training camp. The best news is, nobody was injured, the even better news was the play of goalie Jaroslav Halak. The Islanders have to feel great about their goaltending going into the season. Thomas Greiss will see plenty of action but it is clear who the starter is as long as Halak can stay healthy.

Joining the team in camp will be newly signed dman Dennis Seidenberg. The veteran defenseman will provide the Islanders with quality depth on the blueline. I would expect Adam Pelech to be headed to Bridgeport as he needs to play big minutes. If needed I believe Scotty Mayfield or Alan Quine would clear waivers if their was a log jam. I truly like Mayfield but I have yet to see him improve his skating enough to where he can play a regular shift in the NHL.

The Islanders do have a log jam of one way deals but I do not believe some of the recent articles that suggest this signing could cut into Ryan Pulock’s playing time. I would be shocked and stunned if that happened. I think Seidenberg offers a nice security blanket to cover any injures on the back end.

This signing could mean a trade is coming but I’ll believe that when I see it. We all know that Calvin de Haan or Thomas Hickey could be players lost to the expansion draft. Does that mean that this signing allows Islander General Manager Garth Snow to move one? The trade market is very quiet right now and I don’t think moving one of those guys gets you a top line right wing unless Snow is including a prospect and a draft pick as well.

Training camp is never a dull moment for this team and when we hit opening night it will be very interesting to see what this final roster looks like.

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