Beloved Islanders forward Ross Johnston claimed on waivers by Ducks
Ross Johnston during Islanders training camp in East Meadow on Saturday, September 23, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
In many ways, Mathew Barzal came upon the perfect description of now former Islander Ross Johnston, who was claimed on waivers by the Ducks on Tuesday. The affable 6-5, 234-pounder protected his teammates as a feared fighter despite his limited playing time.
“Ross is a big bro to me, he’s like a big brother,” Barzal said. “It’s brutal, but it’s the business. Selfishly, I hope he doesn’t get claimed. The last few years, we’ve got a deep lineup so it’s tough to get in and out. But I’d like to see him succeed wherever he is at.”
The 29-year-old Johnston, in the second season of a four-year, $4.4 million deal, was placed on waivers on Monday concurrent with fellow left wing Simon Holmstrom being reassigned to the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Teams had to be compliant with the $83.5 million salary-cap ceiling and at the 23-player roster maximum by Monday at 5 p.m.
Holmstrom was the only waiver-exempt forward on the Islanders’ roster.
It was expected the Islanders would have reassigned Johnston to Bridgeport had he cleared and recalled Holmstrom in advance of Saturday night’s season opener against the Sabres at UBS Arena. Holmstrom has seen the bulk of the time on Barzal’s top line with center Bo Horvat during training camp and preseason.
Holmstrom was not recalled on Tuesday and likely won’t be until Thursday to help accrue cap space with the Islanders off on Wednesday.
“You have a hard decision to make,” coach Lane Lambert said. “The decision to put Ross on waivers was not an easy decision. There are certain things that go into it that I won’t discuss.”
Johnston, an undrafted free agent from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, who had been with the organization since 2015, played a total of 134 NHL games over six seasons with nine goals, 15 assists and 283 penalty minutes. He played 16 games with two assists and 37 penalty minutes last season.
“He’s been such a good guy in the room around here and he’s loved by everyone,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, from Summerside, Prince Edward Island. “He’s from the same province as me so I’m pretty close with him. So it was tough to see. He’s gone through tough situations throughout the years where there haven’t been many injuries so he hasn’t played a lot.
“But you want to talk about character and showing up to the rink each day with the same attitude and being a great guy, he defines that. It’s definitely sad to see. Definitely a tough day.”
The Islanders host the Ducks on Dec. 13 and are in Anaheim on March 7.
Notes & quotes: The Islanders and America’s VetDogs, a New York-based non-profit that provides service dogs to military veterans, first responders and active-duty service members, are partnering for a fourth time to co-raise a future service dog. It was announced on Tuesday that this year’s male yellow Labrador Retriever puppy has been named “Jethro” by a fan vote in honor of the late Islanders’ Hall of Famer Clark Gillies.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
