Sebastian Aho's future with the Islanders uncertain
Sebastian Aho of the Islanders skates during the first period against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on April 1. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Sebastian Aho is completing this season as a regular in the Islanders’ lineup. But whether the defenseman will earn a full-time role next season or even remain in the organization is uncertain.
The Islanders’ fifth-round pick in 2017 is set to become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent as he’s older than 25, has played at least three professional seasons and will not play the minimum 75 NHL games in that span.
The Islanders, who did not practice on Wednesday, have two games remaining as they will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018. They complete a home-and-home series against the Capitals on Thursday night after Tuesday night’s 4-2 win in Washington and then face the Lightning on Friday night at UBS Arena.
At most, the 26-year-old Aho will have 62 NHL games of experience. This season, he has two goals and 10 assists in 35 games and has been in the lineup for six straight games.
“It means a lot,” the Swede said of the recent consistent playing time. “My goal is to be an NHL player. Prove to myself and prove to others that I’m capable of playing in the NHL and doing a good job. It’s been fun playing and it’s never fun when the season is coming to an end. I wish that the season would go longer, that we had made a playoff push. But I’ve learned a lot and I’ll try and take it with me into next year.”
The Islanders will likely be looking for defensemen in the offseason and Aho does have the puck-moving skills the team has craved since trading away Devon Toews and Nick Leddy in successive offseasons.
Neither future Hall of Famer Zdeno Chara, 45, nor Andy Greene, 39, are expected to return to the Islanders next season. Both may wind up retiring.
Defenseman Grant Hutton, 26, who made his Islanders’ debut this season with a goal in 16 games after joining the organization in 2018 out of Miami (Ohio), is also slated to be a Group 6 UFA.
Both Aho and Hutton received late-season NHL auditions with defenseman Scott Mayfield missing the past 19 games with a lower-body injury and almost certainly not returning for either of the final two games.
“The biggest strength with Sebastian is his ability to move the puck and supplement the offensive part of it,” coach Barry Trotz said. “Early in the year, he was trying to force too many things and those forced plays ended up being very catastrophic. They were blatant. He’s cleaned a lot of that up out of his game. You see that he’s got more balance now.
“I think he was just trying a little too hard to have more impact. And the harder he tried, the tougher it got. We got him to settle down. He’s more comfortable and he’s a little more relaxed and he’s making better decisions with the puck.”
That might benefit the Islanders next season. Or it might benefit another team.
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.
