The New York Islanders have made their final round of roster cuts, with forward Pierre Engvall notably among the group. With him are Hudson Fasching, Liam Foudy, Fredrik Karlström, Samuel Bolduc, Grant Hutton, Magnus Högberg and Jakub Skarek. Engvall is in the second year of the seven-year, $21 million deal he signed with the Islanders in the 2023 Offseason. Julien Gauthier, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Dennis Cholowski are among the notable players who made the roster.
Pierre Engvall (NYI) on waivers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 6, 2024
Engvall scored 10 goals and 18 assists in 74 regular season games with the Islanders last season, as well as a goal and an assist in five playoff games. He spent most of the season on the second line alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri but was demoted to the bottom six in the final months of the season.
Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello told the media “I think that what happened, simplistically, is that he’s a top six, top nine forward, and Maxim Tsyplakov earned his way into that role, and basically, we have to make the best decisions for the best lineup we can put together. It’s as simple as that. It’s not that he did anything wrong, but he basically lost the job at this point. He is not a bottom-six player… but there’s only so much room, and with Anthony Duclair coming in for the top line, and then [Tsyplakov] fitting in…Now, things can change.”
With Engvall losing his roster spot to Duclair and Tsyplakov, he will now join the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL, assuming he clears waivers. There, he should be a valuable contributor to the team’s top line as they look to add speed and scoring following last season’s last-place finish.
With these roster moves, the Islanders have an $87.8 million cap hit, leaving $200,000 in cap space. The team begins their season on Thursday (Oct. 10) against the Utah Hockey Club at UBS Arena.
