Joined by Skates at the Stakes’ AJ DeVito, we remember defenseman Robin Salo, who never seemed to get a real chance with the Islanders and then disappeared without a trace.
Many sports fans have their favorite “pet prospects” that they root for to make it in the pros. Not only does AJ count Robin Salo as his favorite draft pick, he was the reason AJ became an Islanders fan in the first place. Highly touted by respected prospect watchers (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1703536/2020/05/06/the-gifted-how-islanders-prospect-robin-salo-dominates-without-being-flashy/) , Salo seemed to have all the tools to become an NHL regular. When he finally got to Long Island, all of that promise went unfilled as he got little playing time over the course of a few years. He would have flashes of talent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHoGGDxcBf0) then disappear for months (https://eyesonisles.com/posts/ny-islanders-last-season-was-rough-for-the-development-of-robin-salo-01h6gyy943s3) due to healthy scratches and demotions to lovely Bridgeport (https://x.com/JamesNicholsNHL/status/1499156636178522112) . Once Salo finally left the Islanders to sign overseas (https://nyihockeynow.com/new-york-islanders-robin-salo-departs-sebastian-aho/) , it felt like we barely knew him.
AJ tells us about his connection to and affinity for Salo, and we break down the mysteries surrounding him and how it all got so strange. Of course, we also examine the pairing of Robin Salo and Sebastian Aho, two guys who played the same position the same way on the same team and often felt like the same person. Along the way, AJ makes a bold prediction about Salo’s future (https://hockeysverige.se/shl/shl-stjarnan-lockas-av-nhl-ryktena-ar-mojligt-att-jag-aker/) that we’ll be interested to see come true.
Thanks again to AJ (https://x.com/BrockTheStable) for coming on, and be sure to listen to he, Ryan and Jake at Skates at the Stakes (https://open.spotify.com/show/7i8srrQQqUlBVOpOsMUaEB?si=a33cfebf771647df) .
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