The most revealing moment in a conversation with Simon Holmstrom at the onset of Islanders rookie camp came when the Swede was asked how many such camps he’d attended.
“Five, maybe?” he said, a little unsure. “I’ve been here for five years.”
Of the 22 players on the ice this week, Holmstrom is not the oldest — that would be Brent Moran, the extra goalie the team brought in who is almost a full two years older than anyone else.
But Holmstrom is the person with the most NHL games under his belt, by 50 — since that is how many games he played last season. William Dufour, who suited up once for the Islanders last season, is the only player in camp to have debuted with the big club.
The likes of Dufour and Matt Maggio are, in theory, close enough to the bubble to harbor a spot on the 23-man roster as a particularly ambitious goal.
For Holmstrom, it is an expectation, even if the math is a little complicated.
“I can only do so much that I can control, right?” he said. “I’m just trying to stay focused on the things that I can control and do my best and see what happens.”
The problem for Holmstrom has less to do with his own performance last season than salary-cap machinations he cannot control.
The Islanders have 14 forwards under one-way, NHL contracts.
He is not one of them, with this being the last season of an entry-level deal under which Holmstrom is waivers-exempt.
Holmstrom could still beat out one of the 14.
Ross Johnston should not be considered a roster lock, and though the likes of Julien Gauthier, Oliver Wahlstrom and Hudson Fasching are more comfortable, they may not be 100 percent safe.
The path is open.
But being waivers-exempt, coupled with the fact that Holmstrom did not blow anyone away with the Isles last season, works against him.
At least between now and next Thursday, when NHL camp opens, Holmstrom has a stage on which he should be able to thrive.
No one is drawing major conclusions off development camp — it is more like the first corner of a very long race.
You can’t win there, but you might lose.
Holmstrom is not a particularly vocal player, but there is hope that, over the next week, he can lead by example among the youngsters.
“I think you gotta remember, he’s still young,” AHL Bridgeport coach Rick Kowalsky said Thursday. “He’s been in pro hockey for a fair amount of years now. He’s still a young player. I look at him now as a guy to maybe emerge as a leader with this group because of his experience and his NHL experience. That’s the biggest thing.”
Come NHL camp, the biggest thing Holmstrom could do to make a roster spot happen would be to show off the scoring ability that is, people say, one of the biggest selling points of his game.
In the NHL last year, though, he scored just six goals.
And in 68 AHL games in 2021-22, he scored just 12 times.
“That’s the thing I know I’m best at,” Holmstrom said. “I know I didn’t show it last year, and I really want to show it. I’ve been watching a lot of film and a lot of clips. I know it’s there somewhere. I’m just trying to find it.”
Numerically speaking, though, Holmstrom has not scored at an eye-popping level since he’s been in the Islanders organization.
His poise, awareness and relative lack of bad mistakes were his best attributes in the NHL last season, which point toward him fighting for a bottom-six role.
If the scoring starts to trickle in, maybe that will change.
Development camp No. 5 would be as good a time as any.