Clutterbuck and Wahlstrom to Make Season Debut, Sebastian Aho Goes On IR

Following Saturday’s morning skate, New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert told the media that his lineup for the nightcap against the Anaheim Ducks was not yet finalized.

Due to the skaters still on the ice following the skate, in Nikita Soshnikov, Ross Johnston, Kieffer Bellows, and Sebastian Aho, all signs pointed to Cal Clutterbuck and Oliver Wahlstrom making their season debuts.

However, Cal Clutterbuck was still on Injury Reserve, and a roster move had to be made to open up a spot.

A little after 5:00 PM ET, Cal Clutterbuck was activated off of IR, and he is expected to be in the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks. With Clutterbuck activated, the New York Islanders placed Sebastian Aho on IR.

What’s interesting is that Sebastian Aho remained on the ice after the skate for a good 45 minutes. The Islanders, later on, announced that Aho is dealing with an upper-body injury and his IR stint is retroactive to Oct. 8.

He will be available for Tuesday’s contest against the

Sebastian Aho must stay on IR for a minimum of seven days from the date of the injury. We shall see if the injury occurred prior to Saturday.

The New York Islanders, due to these moves, are going with 14 forwards and six defensemen. So if anything happens to a defenseman in warmups, the Islanders would have a defensive issue on their hands.

Cal Clutterbuck missed the season opener on Thursday as he has been on Injury Reserve retroactive to Sept. 26.  He was dealing with soreness during training camp following his season-ending shoulder surgery.

Oliver Wahlstrom is expected to make his season debut Saturday night, as he had been battling what he called “more of an upper-body injury.” We believed he sustained in the New York Islanders’ third preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Cal Clutterbuck was back on the fourth line during warmups, with Oliver Wahlstrom on the right side of Jean-Gabriel Pageau with Josh Bailey on Pageau’s left.