Goaltender Francis Marotte signed with the New York Islanders, the 25-year-old announced on his Instagram page Friday night.

Marotte is a former goaltender at Robert Morris University and Clarkson University. During his senior year at Clarkson, Marotte had a .938 save percentage and a 1.78 goals-against average. The 6’1” goalie went 23-8-3 during the 2019-20 season.

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It was Marotte’s best collegiate season since his freshman year at Robert Morris, when he went 17-8-3 and posted a .931 save percentage.

“Words can’t explain how grateful I am for every single one of you,” Marotte wrote in the post announcing the signing. “I wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere in hockey if it wasn’t for all the support.”

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A post shared by Francis Marotte (@frankygoalie)

Francis Marotte had been a three-year starter at Robert Morris before transferring to Clarkson using his graduate transfer option. He was invited to the Washington Capitals development in 2018.

It’s unknown the terms of the deal or if it’s an NHL two-way contract or an AHL deal. The Islanders already have four goaltenders at training camp on Long Island.

Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov, Cory Schneider and Jakub Skarek have all been on the ice this past week in East Meadow.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are light on goaltenders so adding more depth to the organization would make sense. The Sound Tigers will take part in the upcoming AHL season, which is expected to begin in February.

Simon Holmstrom got off to a good start in his first appearance at the IIHF World Junior Championships.

The Islanders prospect and Bridgeport Sound Tigers forward had a pair of assists in Sweden’s 7-1 tournament-opening win over the Czech Republic. Holmstrom’s first assist of the game came on Sweden’s second goal of the game.

Albin Sundsvik (@AnaheimDucks) is there on the doorstep to give Sweden a 2-1 lead over the Czechs.

Primary assist to Simon Holmström (@NYIslanders)

Secondary helper to Philip Broberg (@EdmontonOilers) pic.twitter.com/DIus6AdKIp

— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) December 26, 2020

Simon Holmstrom’s shot from the faceoff circle went wide of the net and then bounced right to Albin Sundsvik for the goal. He finished off the two-point afternoon with an assist on Sweden’s final goal of the game with 2:23 left in the third period and Sweden on the power play.

“For (Holmstrom) he knows the small rink may be better than most of our guys,” Sweden’s head coach Joel Ronnmark said. “He has been playing over here in North America, so he has a lot of experience he can share with the group. I think he’s a skilled player. Fun for that unit to have a goal on the power play as well and for him I as well I think it’s a good start.”

Noel Gunler (@Canes) goes bar down, and the extra point is good for Sweden.

Assists to Victor Söderström (@ArizonaCoyotes) and Simon Hölmstrom (@NYIslanders). pic.twitter.com/8hREuX6dQz

— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) December 26, 2020

Holmstrom’s familiarity with the smaller rink comes from his time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season.

The win helped Sweden extend their unbeaten streak in the World Juniors preliminary round to 53 games. It is a particularly impressive feat considering Sweden has had to deal with a rash of COVID-19 related issues, which included not being able to play any pre-tournament games.

Sweden spent a mere 32 seconds trailing the Czech Republic all game.

“At the beginning (of the game) perhaps some parts a bit rusty,” Ronnmark said. “The longer the game went I liked the way we started to play. … Good start and we’ll go from there.”

Fellow Islanders prospect Matias Rajaniemi appeared in Finland’s first game on Christmas day. Rajaniemi appeared in 3:51 of Finland’s 5-3 win over Germany.

It has to be a good omen.

Oliver Wahlstrom is headed back to the United States in preparation for the start of the 2021 NHL season. AIK announced that Wahlstrom was headed back to the States on Monday afternoon. Wahlstrom also posted the news on his social media accounts.

@NYIslanders har kallat tillbaka Oliver Wahlström för uppstarten av NHL-säsongen. Vi tackar Oliver för sin tid i AIK och önskar lycka till hemma i USA! 🤝

🔗 https://t.co/ptDGjmbiE3 pic.twitter.com/WLbYZMvQGN

— AIK Hockey (@AIKishockey) December 14, 2020

Wahlstrom’s return is another sign of an anticipated deal between the NHL and Players Association to get a season up and running in a short time. The league is aiming to start play on Jan. 13 with training camps opening on Jan. 2 for most teams.

The Islanders prospect has been playing for AIK in Sweden’s second division. Wahlstrom appeared in 10 games for AIK and had four goals and four assists in that span. He was one of several Islanders prospects that had been sent overseas to continue to play while the league figured out their plan for next season.

Oliver Wahlstrom had 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 45 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season. He finished the year with eight points (five goals, three assists) over the final 12 games before COVID-19 halted things.

“Early in the year there was a lot of turnovers and swings,” Sound Tigers coach Brent Thompson told NYI Hockey Now earlier this year. “He can handle the physical goings so he used his body a little bit more later in the year.”

The current cap crunch the Islanders find themselves in means that more than ever Wahlstrom has a chance at cracking the opening night lineup this year for New York. He did appear in nine games in the NHL last season before being sent back down to Bridgeport.

Wahlstrom is known as a goalscorer and that was starting to come through before the pandemic halted the AHL season. The Islanders will need someone with that skill set and with the limited cap space they have, that will most likely come internally this season.