Isles add Ortmeyer to Camp, Kabanov to Juniors; No Okposo Update

While everyone waited for updates on the injured Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo, the Islanders made a couple of other roster moves.

The team announced that they are bringing Jed Ortmeyer to camp. Ortmeyer had a pretty good year for the San Jose Sharks last season, with 8 goals and 11 assists in 76 games. Ortmeyer has always been known as one of the better penalty killers in the league, as many Islanders fans will remember from his time with the Rangers a few seasons ago. With Richard park gone, that is something the Islanders need.

Both Ortmeyer and Dean McAmmond are good pick ups for training camp invites, and many people are hoping they stick on two-way contracts and aren't only here just to fulfill roster requirements. The Islanders improved their 4th line with the addition of Zenon Konopka already, however the amount of quality defensive forwards was still lacking. While it is nice to think about how much toughness the team has added, they can't really afford to play Trevor Gillies and Konopka every night. Some teams will require you to be able to match a good defensive forward against them, and if you bring one or both of Ortmeyer and McAmmond in on two-way deals you can mix and match them along with Andy Hilbert and Jon Sim.

The team also announced that they were sending Krill Kabanov back to Moncton. This was clearly the best move for him at this time. Although his chances of making this team were obviously very slim, he ruined those small chances by being late for practice twice in two weeks. The Islanders worked him hard as punishment, and now he will not get to see any preseason action either.

I really hope this kid gets act together. The amount of problems that he has had is alarming, but that's the risk you take on. If he does, it's a heck of a 3rd round pick. Hopefully current Moncton head coach and former Islanders assistant coach Danny Flynn can help bring Kabanov along.

As of right now, there has been no update as far as Kyle Okposo's second opinion on his shoulder. Once there is an update, I'll be sure to post it here. So be sure to check back for that and any other news, such as other possible invites, as we get closer to finally playing in some exhibition games.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com