Rookie Camp Update: One Player Who Really Stood Out

The 2024 New York Islanders rookie camp is all but over. After four straight days on the ice, the young kids (and Keith Kinkaid) have today off for the New York Islanders Golf Outing. The big camp opens on Thursday, and that means the team has its private media day coming up.

How Has Camp Been Run?

Bridgeport coach Rick Kowalsky ran an extremely physical, hard camp. Most drills focused on one-on-one battles, with players up against the wall fighting for every inch. You can bet your bottom dollar Patrick Roy strongly influenced that.

Speaking on that physical element, Kowalsky told us “We wanted to establish a work ethic and compete level early, and Patrick has made that clear, and that’s obviously going to be the way, you know, the big camp starts, and I think it’s good.”

Roy was seen watching every day, but more importantly, Kowalsky confirmed that this camp and how Bridgeport plays are ideally set up schematically to mesh and match with Roy’s system as best as they can.

Kowalsky spoke to the media and said  “We want to try and play as close to they can here just so when guys do get called up, or for that matter sent down, there’s not a lot of structural difference.”

Defense, Defense

Much of this off-season’s talk for the Islanders has centered on the importance of defensive depth. Right now, the team is not bringing anyone else in. Interestingly, during Lou Lamoriello’s media availability during camp, he specifically mentioned Dennis Cholowski as a player the organization is eager to see where he’s at.

Cholowski, 26, has seen his development stagnate after a relatively poor camp last year. This season will be his make-or-break with the club and perhaps the NHL as well.

Throughout the entire camp, a few things stood out. Speed is important. Artyom Kudashov, signed at camp on a PTO, is a 19-year-old Russian defenseman who moved with quite a lot of zip on the ice. He still needs to be physically mature, but it would be a huge win for the organization if the Islanders can sign him to a contract.

The Standout

Perhaps the most surprising standout player on the defensive side of the ice for the Islanders rookies was Aidan Fulp.

Fulp, 24, had a strong camp in my eyes. He’s one of the biggest defenders at the camp, standing at 6’3 and 214 lbs, but his speed was truly impressive. Fulp likely was the fastest skater on the ice for the defenders, having NHL-level skating, but notably did slow down a step when handling the puck.

It’s also worth noting that Fulp was the ONLY right-shot defenseman at the entire camp. That’s right. Fulp was the only player on the right side of the eight defensemen present. On the entire Bridgeport roster, the righties are Fulp, Grant Hutton, and Wyatt Newpower.

Who Is Aidan Fulp?

In his first full-pro season, Fulp played 50 games for Bridgeport last year, registering five points and one goal. It was a long and hard learning year for Bridgeport, a year where the team struggled with many first-year pros. Fulp was one of them.

Speaking exclusively to NYI Hockey Now, Fulp discussed last year’s impact heading into this year.

“I definitely want to build off last year and the things I learned from the coaches but also the veterans last year. Just being confident in my game, taking it one day at a time and working on my skill set, working on the good things as well as the weaknesses. Overall, I think just maturing and using my size to my advantage and using the gifts that I have with my stride length and size and being able to be a shut-down guy every night.”

Fulp is not the flashiest prospect in the Islanders system, even at defense. But all of those other guys all shoot left. Fulp shoots right. That’s where his opportunity really is, and with his speed and size, there’s no question he can hit another level and even scratch it at the NHL level if some things break his way.

He’s older—he turns 25 at the end of February—but that doesn’t necessarily rule him out of taking another step. If everything goes right, his ceiling isn’t all that high; he is a bottom-pairing guy. His hope in this camp is to stand out for his effort, pushing hard. He led every defenseman during the bag skate by an entire zone length as they went up and down.

Fulp knows who he is and is extremely comfortable with that.

“I compete every day and try not to be someone I’m not. I want to be a big shutdown guy who ends plays quickly. The opposing team and their forwards don’t want to come to my side of the ice because they know they’re going to be put through it.”

Why Fulp Matters to the NHL Islanders

He’s cut from the cloth of Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech, guys who make their living shutting down opponents while largely going thankless in the process. Much of the talk at these camps will always be about the more exciting prospects with higher ceilings, like Isaiah George and Calle Odelius. Still, perhaps the best defenseman out there was the seldom-mentioned Aidan Fulp.

With the Islanders’ extreme lack of depth on the right side, keep a strong eye on Fulp. If he handles camp well, he can absolutely become the first call-up if a defender on the right side goes down.