Hanging With The Big Boys

Throughout this year’s Islanders training camp the players have been split in two groups, A and B. Group A featured all the NHL regulars, while group B featured all the up and coming prospects, including Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson, Johan Sundstrom, and Griffin Reinhart. Yesterday, however, changes were made and the aforementioned prospects were moved into the majors group. 

With Cal Clutterbuck out for 4-6 weeks with a skate laceration to his higher leg area, Strome, Nelson and Sundstrom will be battling to replace the hole he leaves on the third line. With Sundstrom being the obvious long shot, and Strome still adjusting to playing, Brock Nelson is the obvious favorite to be filling that role on opening night. With experience in playing left wing while playing in college, and a very physical style of play, Nelson should be the one filling in for Clutterbuck during his injury, while Strome will most likely start the year in Bridgeport awaiting for a chance that is certain to come. 

The players in the groups weren’t the only change made yesterday, as the addition of the new players led to the changing of lines. With Pierre-Marc Bouchard having been demoted to the third line during the Islanders’ last preseason game against Nashville, Josh Bailey was promoted to the first line with the new captain John Tavares and Matt Moulson. Michael Grabner was promoted from the third line to the second line to replace Grabner. Anyone surprised at Bailey’s promotion shouldn’t be, with experience in playing on Tavares’ wing during the playoffs and a playmaking ability unlike any other winger on the Islanders’ roster he was, in my opinion, the best fit to fill that first line hole from day one. 

With Mark Streit’s departure there’s been a hole on the Islanders’ defense that needs filling, and Matt Donovan and Griffin Reinhart are the only candidates left. Reinhart has been surprising coaches throughout camp and it’s not surprising that he’s in line to make his NHL debut come next Friday. At this point the most likely way to go from here is for the coaching staff to give Reinhart his 9 games to see how he handles NHL forwards, and if he proves less than capable Matt Donovan will be there to fill in the rest of the way. On a side note, the pairing of MacDonald and Hamonic made a return in camp yesterday, putting an end to the experiment that was the Hamonic-Strait pairing.

The last big change to take place was the moving of goaltender Anders Nilsson from group A to group B, setting the stage for Kevin Poulin to take the reigns as the backup to Evgeni Nabokov for the 13-14 season. At the end of the day, this was the best decision for all involved. Poulin is past the point of playing in the AHL, he’s gaining comfort in an NHL crease and should only get better with every game he plays. Nilsson on the other hand, who missed the large majority of last season with an infection to gluten that affected just about every part of his body. An entire season as an AHL starter, playing 50-60 games optimally, will be what’s best for him and his development into a full-time NHL starter at some point in the not too distant future. 

As of right now I believe the Islanders’ opening night  roster should look something like this:

Moulson-Tavares-Bailey

Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo

Nelson-Regin-Bouchard

Martin-Cizikas-McDonald

Hamonic-MacDonald

Hickey-Visnovsky

Strait-Reinhart

Nabokov

Poulin

Scratches: Matt Donovan, Matt Carkner, Eric Boulton

Islanders Free Agency Day 1 Review

The New York Islanders came into the first day of free agency with three main roles to fill, a center, a right wing, and a goaltender. The Islanders managed to fill all three of those roles, whether they managed to improve their team in the meantime is something that remains to be seen.

The free agency frenzy began with the Islanders re-signing goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to a one year deal worth $3.25 million. The veteran goaltender comes back for his third season as an Islander, and will try to make up to fans for his lackluster performance in the playoffs. The 37 year old is a good option for the Islanders as he’s a veteran presence and very much so a leader in the locker room. Nabokov’s return disappointed some fans who were expecting a trade for a Ryan Miller, or Jonas Hiller, to lead the team between the pipes next season. However, it seems to me that Snow is going to look to give Kevin Poulin a legitimate chance at making his case to be the starter of the future before looking elsewhere. Reports are suggesting that the Islanders will be looking to give Poulin 20+ games next season, his first real elongated stunt in the NHL, and his first chance to fight for a starting role in the near future. 

The second signing for the Islanders was ex-Minnesota Wild Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who signed a one year deal worth $2 million. Bouchard is second in scoring in Minnesota Wild history, and the playmaker is noted for his passing and vision on the ice. Although Bouchard has a history of concussions, last year he was relatively healthy playing 43 of 48 games, and posting 8 goals and 12 assists in the process. Although Bouchard is expected to be playing on Tavares’ wing next season, one of the things that make this signing good is his versatility in being able to play center effectively as well. Expectations are that Bouchard could post over 60 points if he plays on the first line aside Tavares, and can stay healthy. 

Travis Hamonic

The third signing, and quite certainly the least important one, was center Peter Regin. The 27 year old has been with the Senators since being drafted in the third round of the 2004 draft, making his debut in 2008. One would expect that the Regin signing was a depth signing to replace Keith Aucoin, giving competition to Brock Nelson for the third line center role. Having watched clips of Regin, he’s definitely shown flashes of brilliance, and possesses a good shot with which he usually hits his target.

Although not quite a free agency signing, the biggest signing of the day was without a doubt the seven year extension given to RFA defenseman Travis Hamonic worth a total of $27 million. Newsday reporter, Arthur Staple, quoted Hamonic as saying “we’re building something special with the Isles. I would never have signed this long if I didn’t truly believe that. Sever years is a long time – to me, that’s enough time to win a couple Stanley Cups…This is where I want to be.” 

Although this is definitely quite early into the offseason, taking into account the signings of the day this is what the Islanders lineup would look like if the status quo remains as such:

Moulson-Tavares-Bouchard                                        Moulson-Tavares-Clutterbuck

Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo                                              Bailey-Bouchard-Okposo

Grabner-Nelson-Clutterbuck                 OR                 Regin-Nielsen-Grabner

Martin-Cizikas-McDonald                                          Martin-Cizikas-McDonald

(Regin, Boulton as scratches)                                    (Boulton as scratch)

                                                                                        

MacDonald-Hamonic

Visnovsky-Hickey

Strait-Donovan

(Carkner as scratch)

Nabokov

Poulin