Islanders get a look at defensemen Calle Odelius, Isaiah George at prospect camp
Calle Odelius #58 skates during New York Islanders Development Camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Calle Odelius will play at least one more season in Sweden. Isaiah George knows he’s headed back to his junior hockey team in London, Ontario. After that, though, the two 2022 draft picks are aiming to be among the top defense prospects in the Islanders’ organization.
“I don’t want to get complacent with any area of my game,” George said. “It is important to really be good in the defensive zone and be able to play good defense and break pucks out. Those are the most important things when you move to the next level. And then just continue to work on my skating, my shooting, my passing.”
Odelius and George are among the six defensemen participating in the Isles’ 23-player prospect development camp, which concluded its fourth day on Sunday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.
Development camp ends on Tuesday after an off day on Monday, and the Islanders will open their training camp on Thursday.
The 6-foot, 192-pound Odelius was the Islanders’ top pick in 2022, selected 65th overall in the second round. The 19-year-old has played seven games in Sweden’s top league for Djurgardens and Farjestads BK Karlstad over the last two seasons.
He still needs to acclimate himself to the North American game — played on its smaller rink — once he does join the Islanders’ organization. So he’s not likely to be a realistic candidate to make the NHL roster for at least a couple of seasons.
“It’s fun to meet all the players and the whole staff and organization, get to know the Islanders,” Odelius said of participating in development camp. “It’s a smaller rink. You’ve got to make quicker decisions. And, of course, you’re playing against the better players over here.”
“He moves well,” said Rick Kowalsky, the coach of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, who is running the on-ice sessions at development camp. “He’s a good skater. He’s got good hands. There looks like there’s some offensive ability there.”
George is not AHL-eligible at 19. He had seven goals and 15 assists in 54 games for London after an ankle injury shortened his time at his first Isles development camp last year.
“Last year I only got that first initial week,” he said. “I got to get a feel for the pace and how everything works and then I still watched the entirety of [training] camp, so I felt like I still learned a lot from that and I took that with me in terms of how I approached games and practices in London. I just want to play my game and show I can stick with the big boys.”
Kowalsky described George as a “strong-skating” defenseman and praised his ability to transition the puck up ice.
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.
