Four years ago, a 19-year-old Noah Dobson came into training camp and left the Islanders with no choice.
Due to his age, the NHL-CHL agreement and the Islanders’ belief that returning Dobson to juniors would hinder his development, they put him on the roster — the team’s first teenage defenseman since Mathieu Biron in 1999.
The chances of Isaiah George following the same path are low.
Even he acknowledges that the reason he’s in training camp is to try to establish himself for next year before going back to his OHL team in London, Ontario.
But the fourth-round pick has put together a strong enough couple of weeks that the potential for him making it onto the roster as soon as next year suddenly looks feasible.
Islanders coach Lane Lambert was asked Saturday to compare George and Dobson.
“For me, the similarities are they both move the puck really well,” Lambert said. “Every day I watch Isaiah play, there’s just a little bit more that you like about his game. You can compare that to Noah, as well. We had the same feeling with him.”
George did not have a chance to make an impression at camp last year, suffering an injury early in rookie camp that kept him off the ice.
This time around, coming off a year on the top pair for the London Knights, he was a standout performer through rookie camp and has held his own with the NHL group, skating alongside Ryan Pulock.
“There’s real value to him as a younger player to be able to communicate and talk with a veteran player,” Lambert said. “Ryan happens to be the guy right now. And really, there’s huge value to seeing how different guys play with different players and veteran players and NHL players. And I think he’s done a really good job of that.”
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His preseason debut, which will presumably come early this week — the Islanders have not announced game rosters for their first two preseason matches Tuesday and Wednesday — will be closely watched.
“I think a pretty good one,” George said when asked about the impression he made at rookie camp. “Feel like I showed that I’m a good defender, I can move my feet, make some plays, all that sort of stuff. I think just that I can be part of the future.”
In a perfect world, the Islanders would be able to stash George in AHL Bridgeport for the time being, and perhaps give him a call-up this year if he continues to improve there.
But the NHL-CHL agreement prohibits that from happening.
His only two options are the Islanders or London, unless Bridgeport is still in the playoffs after the Knights’ season is over.
And even if George continues to knock it out of the park during training camp, the Islanders have seven defensemen pretty much set in stone on the roster.
That makes his eventual assignment back to juniors more or less inevitable.
“I’ve always known how it works, so I’m just here to do my best and put in a good impression,” George said, “so that every time I come back, there’s just higher expectations for me in terms of where they see me.”
Even if he’s back in juniors by the end of the week— a definite possibility since London’s regular-season opener is Friday night — George has already accomplished that much.
“I’ve really liked him,” Lambert said. “Even from rookie camp, he passes the puck hard, it’s on the tape, that’s the key to being a defenseman, a breakout defenseman. And he’s young, but he doesn’t necessarily play his age. He seems to be pretty seasoned.”
