The Islanders avoided a disaster scenario after first-round pick Kashawn Aitcheson left Sunday’s preseason game following an open-ice hit from Noah Juulsen late in the second period.
Juulsen flew into Aitcheson, whose head was down as he was playing the puck forward, and appeared to connect knee on knee, sending the Islanders defenseman down in a heap.
Aitcheson immediately signaled for trainers and was helped off the ice without putting any weight on his left leg as Tony DeAngelo got into it with Juulsen.
Aitcheson did not return to the game, but coach Patrick Roy said afterward the defenseman avoided any serious injury.
“He’s fine,” Roy said after the 3-2 shootout loss to the Flyers. “He’s gonna be day to day. It’s a lower body [injury], so he’ll be fine.”
DeAngelo, who was paired with Aitcheson on Sunday, said he thought the hit was clean.
“The puck just started dying a little bit. He made a great read. He was jumping up the ice perfectly,” DeAngelo said. “The puck just started fading a bit, and when he goes down, Juulsen makes a good read, makes a fine hit. No big deal. We gotta stick up for each other, though.”
Roy, however, said he thought the hit was knee on knee, though he acknowledged it was a tough call to make on the ice.
Since it was a preseason game without the normal broadcast production, there was just one replay angle available, making it hard to tell.
While Aitcheson has not gotten the same amount of hype as No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders front office was elated when the defenseman fell to 17th in the draft, where they could take him with one of the picks acquired from the Canadiens in exchange for Noah Dobson.
The 19-year-old, who plays junior hockey with the OHL Barrie Colts, drew comparisons to Jacob Trouba during the draft process due to his own penchant for big, open-ice hits.
“Thought the kid played a really good game,” DeAngelo said.
The Islanders went scoreless in 3:01 of power-play time after spending Saturday working on special teams and playing their entire top unit Sunday.
“I thought our entries were good. I thought we had possession of the puck,” Roy said. “So it’s a process and time will tell us.”
The Islanders played a roster that was about 50 percent NHL and 50 percent AHL.
David Rittich started in nets, stopping 15-of-16 shots before Parker Gahagen came in to relieve him.
Roy said the plan is for every player in camp to get into at least one of the six preseason games.
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