Robbie Russo was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders - but in their hurry to fill organizational needs on the blue line, they filled up roster spots that could have potentially been his by now.
The 22 year old right shot blue liner, who comes from a town about an hour west of Chicago, is coming off his final season of NCAA play. He's been a serviceable two-way defenseman for the entirety of his NCAA career, earning the captain's C and refining his offensive game to give himself a bit of an edge to compensate for being a bit on the smaller side; knocks that involve a half-missed season for academic problems and a lack of stand-out 'oomph', though, make him expendable to the Islanders in the long run.