Out goes one, in comes another. He wasn't one of those buzzed-about sought after college free agents that Toronto tends to buy in bulk, but Northeastern University's Tyler McNeely had one heck of a 10-game amateur tryout (ATO) with the Islanders' AHL affiliate in Bridgeport: Five goals, six assists, +9 on a struggling team that finished on a high note.
The 5’10", 175-pound B.C. native has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Islanders.
In four years as a forward at Northeastern, he put up 44 goals and 61 assists in 142 games, including a career-high 13 goals and 21 assists this past season, when he was Northeastern's respected captain.
Almost immediately upon joining Bridgeport, he turned some heads and joined the penalty kill and the top-producing line with Rhett Rakhshani and Jeremy Colliton. No surprise he enjoyed his brief time there, and they kept track back home.
(So WebBard is happy not only because it makes him look like a savant, but because McNeely had as good an ATO as you can hope for.)
Looked at organizationally, the undersized winger Robin Figren is 23 and wanted to leave. McNeely is 24 and happy to stay. With an eye toward low-risk bets and depth insurance -- the idea being to accumulate potentially quality hockey players, however they come available -- it's not a bad trade.