Bortuzzo Excited for Opportunity with Islanders

Robert Bortuzzo has been around long enough to know that opportunities in the NHL should not be taken for granted. As a result, the veteran defenseman was very appreciative of the opportunity in front of him with the New York Islanders.

Bortuzzo was acquired by the Islanders from the St. Louis Blues on Friday afternoon, helping fill the void on a banged-up Isles blue line that’s without Adam Pelech, Sebastian Aho and now Ryan Pulock. The Isles were looking a veteran with experience and Bortuzzo, who was limited to just four games this year in St. Louis, was looking for ice time. Both parties will get what they’re looking for when the Isles host the LA Kings on Saturday.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity and excited for the opportunity,” Bortuzzo said. “I've known that nothing's really given to you in this league, you kind of have to compete, and I’ve kind of had to do that my whole career for a spot and I look at this in the same light.”

Bortuzzo brings 13 years of NHL experience, spending the past 10 seasons in St. Louis, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2019. The rugged defenseman has played a hard game over his career, which has included a couple of run-ins with his now Islanders teammates, but the Isles are appreciative to have Bortuzzo’s rough-and-tumble style on their side.

“He plays hard,” Mathew Barzal said. “I've had some battles and I'm sure everybody in this room has had some battles with him over the last couple years, so nice to add a guy like that. He plays hard every night and you know personally from experience that he's a pain to play against so it's nice to have that in our locker room.”

Bortuzzo doesn’t know any of the Islanders personally, but said that former Blues teammates Nick Leddy and Thomas Greiss spoke highly of their time on Long Island.

“They just said you're going to love it,” Bortuzzo said. “Love the setup. Love the guys. You can tell it's a group that enjoys coming to the rink every day. That's kind of what they were hinting at and I’m getting that vibe already.”

Leddy and Greiss gave Bortuzzo a few recommendations. The first was obviously to bring a razor, as a fresh start is contingent on a freshly shaved face. Johnny Boychuk, who has played the role of Bortuzzo’s chauffeur in his first 24 hours on Long Island, also made sure he got the message.

“Johnny Boychuk dropped off some shaving cream,” Bortuzzo said. “I wanted to do [shave] for a while. We’ll see what my wife says, but it's a cool thing that everyone's bought into.”

Bortuzzo skated with Samuel Bolduc during Saturday’s morning skate and while he’s here to give the young player a more veteran partner – Bolduc was actually the senior member on a pairing with Grant Hutton on Nov. 25 – Head Coach Lane Lambert said this is also an opportunity for Bolduc to grow.

“We talked earlier in the year about opportunity and potentially giving him more opportunity,” Lambert said. “As it goes with a young player, you do things slowly, and he's slowly getting more and more confidence. So, for him to be able to step in and eat a lot of minutes or more minutes is huge for our hockey team.”

Bortuzzo has only had one day and one morning skate to familiarize himself with the Islanders, so Lambert doesn’t want to overload his new defenseman. The team just went through a similar situation after claiming Mike Reilly off waivers on Nov. 25, but Lambert noted the similarities between the Islanders and Blues style of play may help Bortuzzo integrate.

“St. Louis has played very similar to us through the neutral zone and in the defensive zone,” Lambert said. “So should be a pretty easy transition for him and then it's just through communication and having an understanding, but certainly we don't want anybody overthinking, just go and play hockey.”

Just going out and playing hockey is an exciting prospect for Bortuzzo, who’s ready to jump at the opportunity.

“You never, ever want to see guys go down, but there are opportunities and I'm excited to try and contribute and hopefully do some good things here with a good group,” Bortuzzo said.