“I’m Going Through Changes” by Charles Bradley is the theme song that best represents the Bridgeport Islanders‘ summer.
From revamping their brand to their personnel, let’s dive into just how different Bridgeport will look in 2024-25.
The news broke on Thursday that Bridgeport was adopting “The Fisherman” logo full-time. This is the one the New York Islanders donned from 1995-1997 before wearing it as an alternate during the 2022-23 campaign.
Bridgeport did have its own version of the Fisherman jersey, but like their NHL club, it wasn’t their go-to kit as they wore a big “B” on their jersey since the 2021-22 season when they changed from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to the Bridgeport Islanders.
Greg Vasil / Bridgeport Islanders
Even though there’s a large majority of the fan base who hates…hates anything to do with “The Fisherman”, the new generation of Islanders’ fans can’t get enough of it, which was evident when you walked around UBS Arena and all you saw was their Fisherman alternates.
This permanent change in Bridgeport will likely increase fan attendance, especially from kids, which is important.
Let’s go to the roster.
Losing prospects is never good for any NHL club, but if players who leave weren’t on a path to help the Islanders at the NHL level, is it as bad as it looks?
DEPARTURES
The Islanders have had three prospects head overseas this summer already.
The biggest name of the bunch is Ruslan Iskhakov, their second-round pick in 2018. He was a back-to-back AHL All-Star and got two games in the NHL, one coming in the playoffs.
However, despite popular belief, which is sometimes wrong, he had no real spot on the NHL team and elected to go home and play in the KHL.
Yes, Iskhakov has one of the craziest sets of mits you will probably see and a knack for putting on a show. However, his game was missing a lot of pieces, especially away from the puck, and it’s clear the Islanders agreed.
He was tendered a qualifying offer, but playing time is the most important thing to Iskhakov, and he’ll get that chance with CSKA Moscow.
The Islanders do own his rights until he’s 27 (about to enter his age-24 season).
The other two to leave the organization are 25-year-old Otto Koivula, a former fourth-round pick in 2016 who struggled to stay healthy and become anything more than a bottom-six forward and 25-year-old defenseman Robin Salo, their second-round pick in 2017, who never took advantage of his NHL time before becoming an afterthought.