Overview

• Toronto edged Ottawa 4-3 in its preseason opener, with Nick Robertson scoring and logging power‑play and penalty‑kill minutes while wearing an alternate captain’s A.
• Calle Järnkrok, David Kämpf, Marshall Rifai and rookie Ben Danford strengthened their cases, and rookie goalies Artur Akhtyamov and Vyacheslav Peksa held up well in split duty.
• Islanders first‑rounders Matthew Schaefer and Kashawn Aitcheson made their debuts; Schaefer drew praise and multi‑situational usage, while Aitcheson left after an open‑ice hit and is listed day to day.
• Patrick Roy underscored that the Islanders’ opener was about internal assessment rather than the opponent, dressing a mix of established players and prospects.
• Across early preseason action, teams and analysts stressed that results are secondary to gathering data on systems, special teams and roster hopefuls.