The Islanders expected Dalgarno to progress offensively but in his next two season's in the OHL he recorded 22 and 27 goals with Hamilton. The Islanders were realizing that perhaps he wasn't going to turn out into top two line player. Dalgarno did get his first look with the Islanders when he was called up on an emergency basis in April of the 1985-86 season. He scored his first NHL goal in the Islanders final game of the regular season, a high scoring 9-7 loss at New Jersey.

     Dalgarno returned to the Islanders for the 1987 Stanley Cup Playoffs following his junior career. He saw action in Game 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Patrick Division Finals and recorded an assist on April 20, 1987. In his first full professional season of 1987-88, Dalgarno split the year between the Islanders and the Springfield Indians, their AHL affiliate. He also saw action in four of the Islanders 6 games against the New Jersey Devils in the Patrick Division Semifinals. In 1988-89 he began to stick with the Islanders and managed to produce 11 goals in 55 games played. He missed five games that season with a minor concussion. He also missed the end of the season due to a career turning incident on February 21, 1989 following a fight with Detroit's enforcer Joey Kocur. At 6:14 of the third period of a game the Islanders would go on to lose 6-5, Dalgarno and Kocur got into a violent tussle which saw Dalgarno suffer a fractured orbital bone around his left eye. Upon returning to the Islanders training camp in September 1989, Dalgarno started wearing a face shield.

     Dalgarno turned out to be one of the Islanders final cuts from the 1989 camp on October 3rd. The Islanders had just recently signed Dalgarno to a new contract on September 5th. With the news of his demotion, Dalgarno decided to retire from hockey the same day at the age of 22, rather than return to Springfield. "I'm going on a sabbatical," said Dalgarno. "I don't want to play anywhere else. My wife, Lesley, has two degrees and is a capable teacher, and I have a lot of energy that I can put into other fields." He also said that hockey was by far not his life and he had lost his love for the game. Dalgarno was considering resuming his education and beginning a career in marketing.

     Dalgarno went on to start a business in Hamilton that built fitness facilities for hotels and resorts. His ability to start his own business gave Dalgarno all new confidence and he realized he missed the game of hockey after missing the entire 1989-90 season. Admitting to himself that the fight with Kocur played into his decision to leave the game for a while, Dalgarno announced in May 1990 that he would return to the Islanders for their 1990 training camp.

     After suffering a bruised kidney during an exhibition game, Dalgarno did not return to action until December 1990 with the Capital District Islanders of the AHL. Dalgarno would find getting back into the Islanders lineup quite difficult for the next two season's. He missed a huge chunk of the 1991-92 season with a shoulder injury and then broke his wrist late in the year.

     1992-93 would turn out to be Dalgarno's best season as an Islander. After starting the season with Capital District, people started to question whether Dalgarno had what it took to make the NHL on a fulltime basis. He was called up on November 28th and made an immediate impact to the Islanders lineup scoring the game winning goal in their 9-3 win versus the Winnipeg Jets. As the season went on, Dalgarno became a mainstay on the Islanders third line centered by Travis Green and flanked by Marty McInnis. The line became known as the "Kid Line." Dalgarno was the oldest member of the line at the age of 25. He would go on to record a career high 15 goals and 32 points in 57 games played while leading the team with a +17. He also chipped in 3 goals and 4 points during the Islanders Cinderella playoff run in 1993. Brad capped off the season as the Islanders nominee for the Masterton Trophy by the Professional Hockey Writer's Association.

     Despite missing 10 games in 1993-94 with a hip flexor injury, Dalgarno played in a career high 73 games. He came close to equaling his previous season output with 11 goals and 30 points while still a member of the Kid Line. Towards the end of the season, Dalgarno saw some time on the second line with Ray Ferraro and Benoit Hogue while Patrick Flatley nursed an injury of his own.

     Dalgarno's play began to dip during the 1995 strike shortened season. Due to various injuries he only saw action in 22 of the Islanders 48 games and on the season he only recorded 2 goals and 3 points. His absence caused the Kid Line to be broken up. 1995-96 started even worse for Dalgarno as he broke his wrist during training camp and it required surgery that would keep him out of the lineup until late January. On March 9, 1996 after only 18 games, Dalgarno re-injured the wrist and he was forced to miss the rest of the season. The game at Winnipeg would end up being his last as an Islander as he was later told on March 29th by GM Mike Milbury that the Islanders would not be bringing him back. Dalgarno became a free agent in July 1996. He did not receive interest from other teams around the league and Dalgarno this time retired for good.

     Following his retirement Dalgarno went to work with a software company in Markham, Ontario. In 2000 he founded a Toronto based marketing, communications and web design company called Starshot Ventures, Inc. A managing partner of the company which specialized in internet marketing, Dalgarno became Starshot's Vice President of Business Development and later the President of the company. He sold the business in 2005 and went into online software development. He became Director of Business Development for Qnext, a developer of online communications tools.

     Dalgarno will be remembered as a player who may not have achieved his full potential. But he will always hold a special place in the hearts of Islanders fans for his performance in 1992-93 as a member of the Islanders' Kid Line.

     Fast Facts: When Brad Dalgarno was first called up on an emergency basis in 1986, he wore #40. When he returned for the Islanders training camp in 1987, he wore #12 following the trade of Duane Sutter. But Dalgarno was sent down to Springfield to start the season. When he returned later in the season, Dalgarno took #17. When he came out of retirement in 1990, he allowed newly acquired defenseman Craig Ludwig to wear #17 and accepted #15. He never officially wore #12 in a regular season game.