When Barry Trotz put the word "unfortunately" in front of a sentence about how healthy his top six defensemen were last season, he obviously did not mean that it was unfortunate for the Islanders.
What the coach was referring to was the effect on defenseman Sebastian Aho, a 2017 draft pick who played in 22 games in 2017-18 and only three since – all last season – spending most of his time in Bridgeport of the AHL.
But the Islanders seem to believe there is a place for Aho, 24.
While they did not announce their initial 23-man roster publicly on Monday – it was due to the league at 5 p.