Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
NHL: New York Islanders at Los Angeles Kings
The NHL preseason is underway and for the New York Islanders, the regular season is just 17 days away. The Islanders will be led by new head coach and former associate coach of the team, Lane Lambert. Lambert was promoted to head coach following the organization’s decision to let Barry Trotz go in the offseason.
If there is one thing Barry Trotz had down pat for the New York Islanders it was a sound defensive structure. However, the defense was lacking speed to its style of play. It also had a pair of the oldest players in the NHL in defenseman Zdeno Chara and Andy Greene.
Alexander Romanov is a piece that could potentially revitalize this defense. The Islanders acquired defenseman Romanov from the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL draft back in July of this year. Romanov brings much needed speed and youth to the Islanders blue line. Romanov is just 22 years old and is not afraid to lay the body. Noah Dobson, who had a break out season last year, will potential be his line mate. Dobson had a career high 51 points last season including 13 goals which was the most among all Islanders defenseman. A Dobson-Romanov pairing could certainly be a fun thing to watch this season.
The defense pair of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock is among one of the league’s most elite pairings. Pelech is a true defensive defenseman and was selected to the NHL All-Star game last season for the first time in his career. Ryan Pulock, not only a lock down defenseman, but he has a booming shot in his offensive repertoire. This is a pair that will headline the Islanders defensive group for yet another season.
Scott Mayfield has been a another model of consistency. He will likely lead the third defensive pairing and the question as to who his line mate will be should be determined after the preseason. Possible options to skate alongside Mayfield include Robin Salo, Sebastian Aho, or Dennis Cholowski. All three of those players are below the age of 25. The moral of the story here? Collectively this is a youthful group that has the potential to help this team really rebound from last seasons performance.
Given the fact that Islanders President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Lou Lamoriello made no major moves in the offseason, displays that he is confident with the group that he has.
