Why would the Islanders place Gauthier on waivers?
Why would the Islanders place Gauthier on waivers?
On Friday, the New York Islanders placed forward Julien Gauthier on waivers after the 26-year-old entered the All-Star break as a healthy scratch.
Gauthier had five goals and four assists through 27 games this season.
With Patrick Roy now the head coach -- a bench boss who preaches hockey IQ and needs players who understand the system --that meant that certain players weren't going to be playing as much as others.
Here's five reasons why the Islanders may have decided to place Gauthier on waivers.
Gauthier's Game Didn't Fit Roy's Game Plan
Gauthier provides a tremendous amount of speed but is not known for his hockey IQ and had a costly coverage mistake against the Dallas Stars in Roy's first game behind the bench before getting benched for the final 14:42 of the Islander's 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Playing in three games under Roy, Gauthier's been on the ice for two goals against no goals for and took an offensive zone penalty.
If Roy doesn't feel that Gauthier has the skills to play in his system, waiving him made sense.
Roy Wants To Give Wahlstrom More Of A Chance
After sitting the first three games under Roy, Oliver Wahlstrom was penciled into the lineup against the Florida Panthers last Saturday night.
In a 3-2 overtime loss, Wahlstrom played 10:14, with no shots and two hits, and did earn the secondary assist on Simon Holmstrom's goal after winning a face-off after Jean-Gabriel Pageau was thrown out of the dot.
He was sound defensively, an area of his game that had to improve if he was to have a role in a Roy starting lineup.
This season, Gauthier and Wahlstrom have battled for the third-line right-wing spot, which Gauthier had won more often than not.
Maybe Roy believes he can get the 23-year-old playing the right way if he plays more consistently. Gauthier's game is what it is at this point, while Wahlstrom remains a question mark.
Creating More Cap Space For Trade?
If Gauthier clears waivers or gets scooped up, his $787,500 cap hit comes off the books.
Gauthier signed a two-year deal this summer so that would take his contract off next year's books as well.
Without any other moves being made, like transferring players from Injured Reserve to Long-Term Injured Reserve, that gives New York close to $5 million in deadline cap space.
The Islanders could certainly use the extra money, as every penny counts, and if Gauthier wasn't part of Roy's post-All-Star break game plan anyway, they might as well save some cash.
Bridgeport Call-Up
While the Islanders had their bye week and then the All-Star break, the Bridgeport Islanders were still in session. It had been rumored that Roy, along with Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, watched a few games from Total Mortgage Arena.
Was there a player in Bridgeport that Roy thought could help the team?
Being the Quebec native that he is, did William Dufour -- who Roy coached against in Juniors -- make a good impression?
What about the speedy, potential top-six forward Ruslan Iskhakov, who is currently in San Jose for the AHL All-Star game, the club's only All-Star for a second-straight season?
Did the grinding Matthew Maggio show off his hockey IQ?
Creating Multiple Roster Spots For Potential Injury Returns
With Gauthier on waivers, he'll either pass through and head to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League or get claimed. Either way, the move creates a roster spot for the Islanders.
The Islanders, who sent forward Kyle MacLean down on Sunday, have two openings after this move, which means Gauthier didn't have to be waived if just one player is coming back.
Quite frankly, he didn't have to be waived at all, even if a second player was ready, as Adam Pelech -- who took a Brendan Gallagher elbow to the head, leading to an upper-body injury -- is not on Injured Reserve...yet.
If the Islanders really needed to create another roster spot to activate more than one player off IR -- Ryan Pulock (lower body, LTIR), Casey Cizikas (lower body), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) -- placing Pelech on IR, if he is going to miss time, would be the easy move.
Hudson Fasching entered the break day-to-day with a lower-body injury and could be placed on IR as well to create another spot retroactive to Thursday in Montreal.
If Cizikas is not ready to go, that likely means MacLean will get recalled ahead of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, which would leave the Islanders with one opening before doing anything with Pelech.
You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook.