It’s unknown exactly where the Islanders will play home games in the future, but they are getting out of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center at least once this preseason.
The Islanders will play host to the Rangers for an exhibition at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., on Sept. 22. The arena is the home of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Sound Tigers, and holds about 10,000 people.
The rest of the Islanders’ preseason schedule was not released as of Tuesday afternoon, but a source said there is still a possibility they will play a preseason game at the newly renovated Nassau Coliseum, the organization’s home for its first 43 years of existence going back to the inaugural season of 1972-73.
Developer Bruce Ratner spent $165 million on the renovation of the Coliseum, downsizing it to hold 13,900 for hockey. As part of his pitch to win the development bid, Ratner had promised the county six Islanders games a year for the next decade, and if he doesn’t come through, he could be in line for a monetary penalty. The NHL already confirmed there will be no regular-season games at the Coliseum this season, and the Islanders moving back there full time is close to an impossibility.
There have been reports Islanders owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin are waiting for the state to open up a window of Request for Proposal (RFP) to submit a plan to build a new arena next to the Belmont Park race track. There were also reports saying they might be interested in developing the Willets Point area near Citi Field.
The lone date in Connecticut was released as part of the Rangers’ six-game preseason schedule, which includes home-and-home sets with the Devils, Flyers and Islanders, starting on Sept. 18 and finishing Sept. 26. The full NHL regular-season schedule is set to come out within the next few weeks.