In his final year with the Winter Hawks, Isbister recorded 33 points in 24 games and was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team.

[1] That season, he also competed for the Team Canada at the 1997 World Junior Championships and made his professional debut with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, appearing in 7 games.

Isbister played his first NHL game on October 1, 1997, for the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets) against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The following summer, he was picked up by the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent on August 30, 2006, but was traded to the New York Rangers a month into the season in exchange for Jakub Petruzalek and a conditional fifth-round draft choice in 2008.

[2] With New York, Isbister spent the majority of the 2006–07 season with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' AHL affiliate.

However, he instead went overseas to play for EV Zug of the Swiss Nationalliga A and on September 27, 2009, retired as an active player and went into coaching.