New York Islanders Cal Ritchie stuns in preseason debut. Is the rookie ready for NHL stardom?
Dive into the latest Islanders news as we break down Ritchie’s impressive performance against the New Jersey Devils. Get crucial injury updates on captain Anders Lee and goalie Semyon Varlamov. We explore the impact of the new radio broadcast team and discuss former players Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck’s upcoming alternate broadcasts. Plus, a special birthday spotlight on Craig Janney’s brief but memorable stint with the Isles.
Tune in for expert analysis on how these developments could reshape the Islanders’ roster and season outlook.
All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.
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29 Comments
Might have no choice now re Ritchie… attrition at the docks sounds like the Isle's… Lets hope they make it out of port as it's kinda a tradition now… Kinda Ohh Boy! news…
There we go Ritchie and MacLean can work on it after practice and get the tricks and set plays down. That's a job for Kyle now; tutor the F/O intangiables and maybe Ritchie's game rubs off on him… Brothers in arms
Varly's an emergency relief goalie at best…. Rittich is a solid goalie; new blood Isles will like I hope…
Clutter and Bails are the new Heals and Flats!
That preseason game was completely meaningless. It was 90% non nhl rookies many of which will likely never make it to the nhl
Good morning team! Gil, it was a disappointment game against the Devil's. I like how Ritchie played. I think he stays. First shot for the Isles came late in the first period, on the PP. The PK was HORIBLE, to say the least. Where were they? Lots of work for Roy and his staff to take care of. Looking forward to the Rangers tonight. Everyone, have a great day! See you all again tomorrow. Until then.. Let's Go Islanders!!
Ritchie needs regular season 10 game view. Remember Av’s changed course on this kid fast
It is a difficult call on Richie…. He is a center who can’t win faceoffs and that is an issue. Puck possession is so important and the Islanders are horrible at it! Just opinion but Ritchie should start in Bridgeport as we are bound for injuries like normal. Don’t want to trade a center away then a center is hurt and out for the season with no replacement in the organization. Barzal is not up to speed and possibly never will get back the blazing speed he possessed. Even Barzy in interviews said he is not the same but in his words and body language. What happens if Barzal takes a hit to the bad knee then what? Trading away a center early in the season could find Darche looking for a NHL center in November or December! If you deal Zeeks or JGP we lose faceoff specialist and experience at the center position. Are you trading a winger to insert Ritchie? No one is taking Lee at this early stage of the season for 7 million. No one is taking Engvall even if he is healthy! Duclair who is not 100 percent with his groin will be hurt in no time. Hence the case for sending Ritchie to Bridgeport for the time being. We might have what seems a glut of NHL players but we don’t have durable players who stay healthy for 82 games. If they want to tank the season then by all means trade your current experienced center depth for picks or prospects. With the Islanders history of injuries to think players will stay healthy is poor judgement. Since we can put Richie to the minors with no consequences that is likely the place where he should go to start. We know players will get hurt as always Darche needs to be patient with his decisions. If you are trading JGP and or Zeeks then let it be at the trade deadline. Hopefully Roy coaches better games going forward.
Good 🌅, Gil. How are you? The Islanders lost to the 👿 in NJ. The PK looked awful, but then again, it is preseason. Cal Ritchie looked very impressive setting up one goal, and scored the other. Patrick Roy was 😊 to see what he saw in Cal Ritchie. I have a feeling that Matheiu Darche will be trading one of the veterans. If he makes the Islanders, DON'T KEEP HIM IN THE PRESS BOX. You're right, it still looks promising, but Matheiu Darche is still cleaning up the mess that Lou Lamoriello made. Injury update. Kaishaun Aitcheson played, but it was an ugly effort all around. He sent Aitcheson back to juniors; he's healthy though. Anders Lee has an upper body injury, and he's out for 1 maybe 2 weeks. Maxim Tsyplakov got the 🌙 off, Pierre Engvall is still recovering from hip surgery, and Varly won't be back anytime soon. The Islanders have a new 📻 broadcast in Alan F. He's been with the organization, and he ❤ the organization. I wish him well. Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck will have a talk show kind of like the Manning Brothers on MNF. HAPPY 🎂, CRAIG JANNE. He scored his NHL goal in a win over the Bruins. Hear from you later, Gil. I finished ⌚ Game 1 the Quarterfinals between Islanders and the Oilers from 1981. They both have a combined total of 9-10 HALL OF FAMERS and 🐐 between. While the Oilers were young and on ☁️ 9 after upsetting the Canadiens, the Islanders brought them back to 🌎, AND FAST. Now, LET'S GO, ISLANDERS.
Ritchie did absolutely nothing against the devils. He’s not better than jg or Casey. Heinemen on the other hand was very noticeable
Gil is there a chance cisikas is just done idk what he does we’ll penalty kill is aweful and he been on it for 2 years
Pre Season is meaningless. Wasting time judging anything from these games.
Lee being injured actually good timing. Let Ritchie play. See what he has. You need a decent sample size. 10 games good chunk.
Ritchie seems to have good size as well, can see his potential
The rookies challenging the veterans for roster spots. This is a good problem to have. LGI
Ritchie should be with the big club. He is the most ready out of all the young prospects. And that includes Schaefer.
Gil, though I agree with you that Lamoriello set the team back somewhat. But let’s not forget, he built a team that got to the conference finals two years in a row.
I have no problem with a lot of the trades he made, even though I’m a draft fan.
Pageau helped get us to the conference finals two years in a row, and is a good 3rd line center. He’s in his final year of his contract, he’ll be traded eventually. I liked the Palmieri trade, he’s scored 30 & 24 goals the last two seasons. Liked the Romanov trade, right now, he’s probably our best dman right now.
And let’s not forget, Lou’s last trade got us the aforementioned Ritchie, as well as a 1st round pick in 2026.
Contracts are questionable, but he wanted to keep the team together. Losing Barzal & Varlamov are the main reason they didn’t make the playoffs last year. Varlamov was off to an excellent start last year.
The injury bug as made the Islanders their home past few seasons! ..sigh..
Craig Janney bday. Reminds me.. Milburys best quote ever! Janney & his agent were upset w/ 4th line TOI.& healthy scratches & complained to Mike saying Janney is a big name, look at his career stats, he deserves more icetime on this team..Milbury responds with "Don't tell me what you did 10yrs ago".😂😂😂
It shouldn't even be a question. Keeping Cal in Bridgeport is a Lou move. Thought we were past that.
I know its pre season not getting carried away but soecial teams pp and pk are the priority to fix didnt look good. Ive been saying it since last year the po and pk are bad due to personnel. Casey is not a good pk anymore and i dont like the thinking well he is 4 th liner has to kill penalties. No. Your best players have to play in all situations. Barzal, horvat should be killing penalties, pp 5v5 etc. crosby, mcdavid mathews they are out there all the time. If po and pk are bad stop putting the same players out there. And its also a leadership question
Congratulations to the new radio voice for New York Islanders hockey, Alan Fuehring. Although I will miss King and Picker, Alan does a fantastic job and as such will make Islanders Country proud. Anybody know if radio will be relegated to Hofstra University Radio and Long Island radio station that is only heard out on the Island?
Who cares about faceoffs Ritchie can get points that's all that matters
Put Richie in wing then
Get rid of barzal 8 million ?
For the risk of seeming cold and indifferent and I know he has a year but I can’t see Lee repeat the effort of last year. He’s NHL old. I hope he was aleast dangled. I really can’t believe we’re still having a conversation about Varly . No way this guy is better than Chris King. No way
It was announced today that Pat LaFontaine will be inducted into the New York Islanders Hall of Fame. Let's be honest: we would have been better off accepting Jim Devallano's trade offer of flipping pick#3 for #4 and then some. Devallano offered Bill Torrey the sun the moon and the stars for LaFontaine. I would love to have seen Yzerman playing on the first line with Mike Bossy. I wonder what else/who else Devellano offered Torrey for the #3 pick in addition to the #4 pick. Additionally, the Easter Epic was won on a Dale Henry deflection, in front of Bob Mason and the Caps net, on a LaFontaine shot. Henry should have gotten credit for that goal. Eventually, we would have had Yzerman centering the top line and Duane Sutter centering the second line. Not too shabby. Yzerman centering Mikko Makkela and Derek King on the first line. Duane Sutter centering Patrick Flatley and Randy Wood on the second line. Oh well. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Turn em into glue
We’re building for the future aren’t we? Let’s get them rookies on the ice now👍