I like it, it is what it is. However, I would make slight adjustments.
Demote Johnston to Bridgeport. We don’t need an enforcer in the modern NHL. And none of our players are “mega star” enough to go after. I’d keep Holmstrom up in his place because I think while young, he’s already hit his ceiling. A bottom six guy at best. Serviceable and cheaper (I think).
Bolduc sitting on the sidelines with the big club is a waste. He should be playing every day refining his skillset. He would be the first call up. Have another vet as the backup defenseman. Granted, who that is I’m not sure. But that’s not proper deployment for a rookie.
As much as we all like Lee, he doesn’t belong on the top line anymore. Not that he’s the solution…but swap Lee for Engvall or dare I say give Wahlstrom a shot to lose the spot on the left side of the top line. Feet to the fire, prove it or you’re gone time. Last chance.
I think as much as we also all love Martin and Clutterbuck it’s time we start rotating them in and out to rest them for the post season. Utilize Fasching and Gauthier with Cizikas. I think that would be a good fourth line. Holmstrom can always play 3rd line left wing if we drop Hudson down one.
Unlike many fans on here I’m fine with the roster as it is having survived the darkest years of the franchise when a lot of posters on here weren’t even born yet. Would I love a 40+ goal sniper on the top line? Of course. But it could be SO MUCH WORSE.
Commercial-Sink-3718
I love our defence
Metalhead831
Switch Wahlstrom and Lee. Lee and horvat both play similar roles and cancel each other out on the same line. It looked shit all last year
durstcobain
Fourth line lookin’ fine 😎
Stockersandwhich
I’m going to make a bold prediction that Gauthier could be a hidden gem. Every year you see first rounders break out after years of woes bc of fit and style just gelling.
minos157
I realize that Envall, Nelson, and Palms were a pretty good line in the playoffs, but I’d swap him and Lee. Lee and Horvat are the same player and it was horrendous last year. You want Lee parked in front of the net and you want Horvat parked in front of the net. I realize this is attempting to avoid two right shot wingers on the 1st line, but with Barzal being Barzal I think you can get away with that.
​
Unless Lambert is trying a new double screen style, which honestly since Barzal loves to just skate 15 circles around the zone before doing anything maybe makes sense. 🤔
Slipperee99
I am looking forward to the season. Not because they will be good or anything but because I no longer have to see #12 wasting a roster spot!
the_grass_snake
No Parise?!?!?!?
burger333
About the same as last year. If they stay healthy they could be solid, but if the offense can’t perform better, then we’ll only go as far as Ilya can take us on his own.
First-Piglet-5714
Third line needs help
forgotmyusernamedamm
Everyone wants Wally on the first line, and I get it, but he’s coming off a pretty big injury. Let him get some minutes with Pageau and Faching and let’s reassess in a month? “Locked in” doesn’t mean for the season. I would start him on the third line, but make him first line on the pp.
I hope Bolduc gets into a lot of games over Aho. Maybe even in place of Romanov on occasion, especially if Romanov needs to play his way into shape. You get better by playing, and I think Bolduc has a lot of upside. I like Aho, but he a small defenseman and I think what we see is what we get. Flashes of offensive ability, but nothing sustained, and he struggles to move guys out from the front of the net.
HockeyGoalieEh
I’m not super confident in this team nor have I been in a while. They are good enough down the middle with whomever carrying the first line slightly worse than your target for a first line centre and whomever in the second better than what you want there. Pageau is a solid third line centre. Cizikas will have to rebound as he was somewhere around a subpar fourth line option to a replacement level player.
The wingers are what they are. Horvat or Barzal should be fine as top line options. Lee will probably be on the left side and he’s slightly worse than what you want there. The rest of the guys are not up to where they need to be with Palmieri and one of Gauthier or Fasching playing about a line worse than where they are at and Martin and especially Clutterbuck coming off of bad years. Engvall should be fine and we’ll have to see what Wahlstrom does; a step forward for him would greatly tip the scales in the Islanders favour.
I do not like the left side of the defense. Pelech had a down year and should rebound. Aho had a good year and may regress. Romanov didn’t look good at all to start the year before coming on late, but for the season he looked like a sixth defenseman. It will be problematic if the left side doesn’t improve over where it was last year then it could be a problem.
The right side of the defense looks better. Hopefully Pulock can be a bit better again and hopefully Dobson develops some hockey IQ on defense. The Mayfield signing was befuddling as he’s not much more than a fifth defenseman.
Goaltending is my biggest concern. Yes Sorokin was arguably the best goalie in the league last year, but it is very hard for goalies to repeat that success and the team has placed all of their eggs in his basket. If he regresses even out of the top five or even worse gets injured, that’s the end of their season. The Varlamov re-signing was problematic as he’s just to the age where teams typically see a large depreciation in ability and they need both of them to be at least as good as what they were last year.
Depth isn’t worth mentioning. They’re a bottom-five team in terms of future assets and it’s reflected in the depth. They will need to stay healthy to compete. That’s a problem as they are one of the older teams in the league and were in the middle to slightly healthier than the rest of the league in terms of man games and points lost to injuries last year.
They’ll fight for a wild card spot and probably not much more than that. They’re certainly worse than Carolina and New Jersey are so there shouldn’t be any home ice advantage. I think it’s more likely that they depreciate rather than improve and see them barely missing the playoffs. Even if they do make it, I see next to no chance of them winning the cup. I have next to no excitement going into this season. If anything I have more anxiety that they’ll give up more assets to scrape into the playoffs yet again.
Bagelbau5
Can we please get rid of Johnston? He does nothing and firmly believe Bailey would’ve outplayed him
PanachelessNihilist
Desperately need Parise back.
crazyhotwheels
I feel pretty good, honestly. Interested to see how the extra forward battle pans out, and I share the opinion that Ross should be in Bridgeport (and I think he will be). IMO our forward depth makes up whatever gap there is between our top talent and that of the Rangers, Penguins etc. Defense is solid, and of course the goaltending is excellent. Should be a good year.
RedditGotSoulDoubt
Our forwards and scoring will still be meh
priester85
The fourth line worries me. Love the guys, but Cal & Matt ain’t what they used to be and Johnston isn’t the replacement we all had hoped. It’s not just age and injuries either (although that is a huge part of it). Under Trotz they had a very clear role and they executed it. Last year they seemed to be given a little more freedom and it wasn’t the same.
SmashYourEnemies02
Ugh, unbelievably mid
therealdieseld
Womp womp
longtimelistener17
I think this is the year RJ gets waived. It looks like Lee and Pageau are now a tandem and LW1 is up for grabs.
Basil1229
Is this pretty much the exact same team that we’ve had for the previous two seasons, only older? I’m only a semi-casual fan but the only unfamiliar name to me is Gauthier.
esd714
Just a guess. No information at all. No sources. Based solely on how Lou has run things since he’s been here.
Palmeri is a significant injury and going to LTIR.
Mephisto1822
I really don’t like Lee on the first line
lukinfly45
Certain Guys gotta stay healthy and certain guys like Bo gotta perform. If neither happens, it will be a long season.
24 Comments
I like it, it is what it is. However, I would make slight adjustments.
Demote Johnston to Bridgeport. We don’t need an enforcer in the modern NHL. And none of our players are “mega star” enough to go after. I’d keep Holmstrom up in his place because I think while young, he’s already hit his ceiling. A bottom six guy at best. Serviceable and cheaper (I think).
Bolduc sitting on the sidelines with the big club is a waste. He should be playing every day refining his skillset. He would be the first call up. Have another vet as the backup defenseman. Granted, who that is I’m not sure. But that’s not proper deployment for a rookie.
As much as we all like Lee, he doesn’t belong on the top line anymore. Not that he’s the solution…but swap Lee for Engvall or dare I say give Wahlstrom a shot to lose the spot on the left side of the top line. Feet to the fire, prove it or you’re gone time. Last chance.
I think as much as we also all love Martin and Clutterbuck it’s time we start rotating them in and out to rest them for the post season. Utilize Fasching and Gauthier with Cizikas. I think that would be a good fourth line. Holmstrom can always play 3rd line left wing if we drop Hudson down one.
Unlike many fans on here I’m fine with the roster as it is having survived the darkest years of the franchise when a lot of posters on here weren’t even born yet. Would I love a 40+ goal sniper on the top line? Of course. But it could be SO MUCH WORSE.
I love our defence
Switch Wahlstrom and Lee. Lee and horvat both play similar roles and cancel each other out on the same line. It looked shit all last year
Fourth line lookin’ fine 😎
I’m going to make a bold prediction that Gauthier could be a hidden gem. Every year you see first rounders break out after years of woes bc of fit and style just gelling.
I realize that Envall, Nelson, and Palms were a pretty good line in the playoffs, but I’d swap him and Lee. Lee and Horvat are the same player and it was horrendous last year. You want Lee parked in front of the net and you want Horvat parked in front of the net. I realize this is attempting to avoid two right shot wingers on the 1st line, but with Barzal being Barzal I think you can get away with that.
​
Unless Lambert is trying a new double screen style, which honestly since Barzal loves to just skate 15 circles around the zone before doing anything maybe makes sense. 🤔
I am looking forward to the season. Not because they will be good or anything but because I no longer have to see #12 wasting a roster spot!
No Parise?!?!?!?
About the same as last year. If they stay healthy they could be solid, but if the offense can’t perform better, then we’ll only go as far as Ilya can take us on his own.
Third line needs help
Everyone wants Wally on the first line, and I get it, but he’s coming off a pretty big injury. Let him get some minutes with Pageau and Faching and let’s reassess in a month? “Locked in” doesn’t mean for the season. I would start him on the third line, but make him first line on the pp.
I hope Bolduc gets into a lot of games over Aho. Maybe even in place of Romanov on occasion, especially if Romanov needs to play his way into shape. You get better by playing, and I think Bolduc has a lot of upside. I like Aho, but he a small defenseman and I think what we see is what we get. Flashes of offensive ability, but nothing sustained, and he struggles to move guys out from the front of the net.
I’m not super confident in this team nor have I been in a while. They are good enough down the middle with whomever carrying the first line slightly worse than your target for a first line centre and whomever in the second better than what you want there. Pageau is a solid third line centre. Cizikas will have to rebound as he was somewhere around a subpar fourth line option to a replacement level player.
The wingers are what they are. Horvat or Barzal should be fine as top line options. Lee will probably be on the left side and he’s slightly worse than what you want there. The rest of the guys are not up to where they need to be with Palmieri and one of Gauthier or Fasching playing about a line worse than where they are at and Martin and especially Clutterbuck coming off of bad years. Engvall should be fine and we’ll have to see what Wahlstrom does; a step forward for him would greatly tip the scales in the Islanders favour.
I do not like the left side of the defense. Pelech had a down year and should rebound. Aho had a good year and may regress. Romanov didn’t look good at all to start the year before coming on late, but for the season he looked like a sixth defenseman. It will be problematic if the left side doesn’t improve over where it was last year then it could be a problem.
The right side of the defense looks better. Hopefully Pulock can be a bit better again and hopefully Dobson develops some hockey IQ on defense. The Mayfield signing was befuddling as he’s not much more than a fifth defenseman.
Goaltending is my biggest concern. Yes Sorokin was arguably the best goalie in the league last year, but it is very hard for goalies to repeat that success and the team has placed all of their eggs in his basket. If he regresses even out of the top five or even worse gets injured, that’s the end of their season. The Varlamov re-signing was problematic as he’s just to the age where teams typically see a large depreciation in ability and they need both of them to be at least as good as what they were last year.
Depth isn’t worth mentioning. They’re a bottom-five team in terms of future assets and it’s reflected in the depth. They will need to stay healthy to compete. That’s a problem as they are one of the older teams in the league and were in the middle to slightly healthier than the rest of the league in terms of man games and points lost to injuries last year.
They’ll fight for a wild card spot and probably not much more than that. They’re certainly worse than Carolina and New Jersey are so there shouldn’t be any home ice advantage. I think it’s more likely that they depreciate rather than improve and see them barely missing the playoffs. Even if they do make it, I see next to no chance of them winning the cup. I have next to no excitement going into this season. If anything I have more anxiety that they’ll give up more assets to scrape into the playoffs yet again.
Can we please get rid of Johnston? He does nothing and firmly believe Bailey would’ve outplayed him
Desperately need Parise back.
I feel pretty good, honestly. Interested to see how the extra forward battle pans out, and I share the opinion that Ross should be in Bridgeport (and I think he will be). IMO our forward depth makes up whatever gap there is between our top talent and that of the Rangers, Penguins etc. Defense is solid, and of course the goaltending is excellent. Should be a good year.
Our forwards and scoring will still be meh
The fourth line worries me. Love the guys, but Cal & Matt ain’t what they used to be and Johnston isn’t the replacement we all had hoped. It’s not just age and injuries either (although that is a huge part of it). Under Trotz they had a very clear role and they executed it. Last year they seemed to be given a little more freedom and it wasn’t the same.
Ugh, unbelievably mid
Womp womp
I think this is the year RJ gets waived. It looks like Lee and Pageau are now a tandem and LW1 is up for grabs.
Is this pretty much the exact same team that we’ve had for the previous two seasons, only older? I’m only a semi-casual fan but the only unfamiliar name to me is Gauthier.
Just a guess. No information at all. No sources. Based solely on how Lou has run things since he’s been here.
Palmeri is a significant injury and going to LTIR.
I really don’t like Lee on the first line
Certain Guys gotta stay healthy and certain guys like Bo gotta perform. If neither happens, it will be a long season.