Rangers sign St. Croix, Islanders assign 21, waive 5

Michael St. Croix (Edmonton Oil Kings)

From our friends at the Edmonton Oil Kings announcing that the Rangers have signed Michael St. Croix (2011 4th) to a Entry Level Contract. St. Croix very much deserved this contract.

Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings are very proud to congratulate forward Michael St. Croix on signing his three-year NHL entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. St.Croix was selected by the Rangers in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft.

The 19-year old Winnipeg native has posted career highs in each of his three WHL seasons. In 2011-12, he lead the team with 45 goals, 60 assists, 18 power play goals and 105 points - all Oil Kings club records. St.Croix also posted a +40 rating, 33 multi-point games and eight game winners in the 2011-12 regular season. He then helped lead the team to their first WHL Championship in the modern era.

St.Croix was the Oil Kings first selection (4th overall) in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft. He enters the 2012-13 season as the current club leader for career statistics with 91 goals, 137 assists and 228 points.

Our congrats to St. Croix and the Edmonton Oil Kings as the team does deserve credit for helping St. Croix improve his game.

The Islanders made a massive move on Friday assigning 19 players to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and on paper returning (as expected) their first round picks from the previous 2 drafts.

No surprises here at all.

UNIONDALE, NY (September 14, 2012) – The New York Islanders announced today that 19 players have been assigned to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The club also assigned two players to their respective junior teams.

The players assigned to the Sound Tigers include Marc Cantin, Casey Cizikas, Jason Clark, Calvin de Haan, Brandon Defazio, Matt Donovan, Mike Halmo, Travis Hamonic, Kirill Kabanov, Jon Landry, Brock Nelson, Aaron Ness, Nino Niederreiter, Anders Nilsson, John Persson, Kevin Poulin, Blair Riley, Johan Sundstrom and David Ullstrom.

The Islanders’ two junior assignments include Griffin Reinhart, who returns to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, and Ryan Strome, who rejoins the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Sound Tigers will begin training camp on Sept. 28 and play their season opener on Friday, Oct. 12 at the Connecticut Whale. Their home opener is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 13 against the Providence Bruins at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.

Founded in 1972, the New York Islanders Hockey Club stands proudly as Long Island’s sole major league professional sports franchise.

Updated 1:06 PM- Islanders placed on waivers Sean Backman, Colin McDonald, Nathan McIver, Matt Watkins, and Ty Wishart. These are the same waivers as the Rangers used yesterday.

Got plenty of games on tap tonight so check back later for the latest.