The Islanders’ roster news came with a stunner.
Pierre Engvall, who still has six years and $18 million left on his contract, was among those placed on waivers as the Islanders jettisoned a number of players to get down to 22 on the roster.
If he clears waivers, which is likely, Engvall will start the season in AHL Bridgeport.
Though the 28-year-old had a bad training camp and had been clearly beaten out by others, Engvall’s contract appeared to make it more likely that he would start the season as a healthy scratch, with the chance to make it back into the fold soon.
Instead, Lou Lamoriello and Patrick Roy decided to place a premium on accountability and make an example of Engvall, who put forth an inconsistent effort level throughout last season and during camp, by sending him down.
Hudson Fasching, Fredrik Karlstrom, Liam Foudy, Samuel Bolduc, Grant Hutton, Marcus Hogberg and Jakub Skarek were placed on waivers as well.
That means Julien Gauthier, Oliver Wahlstrom and Dennis Cholowski will start the season on the roster, which can only fit 22 players because the Islanders are up against the salary cap.
The plan is also for Matt Martin, who is on a PTO, to stay on his contract and practice with the Islanders.
At the start of camp, Engvall, who had 10 goals and 18 assists in 74 games last season, was not even considered to be fighting for a spot.
Though he was made a healthy scratch under both Lane Lambert and Patrick Roy, he spent much of the year on the second line, mixing moments of effectiveness with long stretches of inconsistency.
He started camp on the third line with Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau — a trio that had success when together in the playoffs — and Roy talked about wanting to keep them together.
But after Engvall was left out of a dress rehearsal preseason game against the Flyers on Monday, it looked like he would need to fight for a lineup spot on opening night.
It turned out, he needed to fight for a roster spot — and he lost.
It is a near-guarantee that Engvall, who also has a 16-team no-trade clause, will not be claimed on waivers.
If it wasn’t already, his contract will now go down as one of the worst in franchise history, and a mistake that the Islanders could be dealing with for quite a long time.
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If Engvall is bought out, he would cost the Islanders $1 million annually through 2035; if not, they will be dealing with a $3 million hit through 2030.
With the salary cap no longer flat, that is not necessarily the complete financial disaster it might have been a few years ago.
But unless Engvall can work his way back from the AHL into a solid and dependable player, it is a bad unforced error.
