EXCLUSIVE: New York Islanders Line Combinations REVEALED | Patrick Roy’s SHOCKING Decisions!

EXCLUSIVE: New York Islanders Line Combinations REVEALED | Patrick Roy’s SHOCKING Decisions!

The New York Islanders season opening roster is nearly set, but there’s one thing complicating it. We’ll talk about that and a whole lot more coming up on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. You’re Locked On Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On Islanders podcast. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Locked On Islanders your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. I’m Gil Martin. I’ve been covering the New York Islanders for nearly two decades. And I wrote the book Ice Wars on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 to the modern era. So glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey. And we have got a lot to discuss. The uh season is just a few days away. Islanders opening up Thursday. We’ll talk about the latest injury news to Cal Richie, the line combinations which appear to be pretty much set for opening game, some roster moves that have been made, and uh a few other things going on, including our Islanders birthday of the day. Let’s start with the injury news. And you know, this is obviously disappointing, but the Islanders announced on Friday that center Cal Richie, who was having a pretty solid training camp, has been placed uh well, hasn’t been placed anywhere yet, but he is out for one to two weeks with a lower body injury that was suffered in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Philadelphia Flyers. So, the Islanders need to have their roster, their opening night roster sent to the league Monday. And well, Richie almost certainly not going to be now on the opening night roster. He will almost certainly not be ready to play by Thursday. And even though he had a really solid camp, the problem again remains for the New York Islanders that Cal Richie probably didn’t have a spot on the roster because of some veterans who the team was probably better off moving on from, but who they, you know, haven’t been able to move on from yet. Now, it’s also possible that you could move some of the other centers to the wing or move Cal Richie to the wing once he’s ready, but Patrick Wah had indicated during training camp that he preferred to play Cal Richie at center. And he played exclusively at center over the course of training camp. It was Casey Sazikas who occasionally moved to the wing when he was in the lineup with Cal Richie. Now, probably what we’re going to see is Cal Richie being on season opening IR, then they will send him down to Bridgeport for a conditioning stint or just send him down to Bridgeport. Now, here’s the situation. Cal Richie does not have to clear waiverss. He is waivers exempt because of his age and his experience having played seven games in the NHL, no games ever in the AHL. Uh they can send him down without having him pass through waiverss. And it makes no sense, quite honestly, no sense, for the New York Islanders to risk Mark Gadkam or Kyle Mlan on waiverss to send them down to Bridgeport. And it makes even less sense once Cal Richie is healthy for him to be the 13th or 14th forward and sit in the press box. The key for a young player like Cal Richie is to have him play. And while it really looks like Cal Richie is NHL ready right now, the most likely thing is he starts this season once he’s healthy and ready to go in the American Hockey League with Bridgeport. And there are advantages to that. You know in Bridgeport that Cal Richie will be probably the number one center playing topline minutes. He will get extensive time on the power play as well. And you have to figure that he is going to see a lot of action. And if other injuries hit, I think Cal Richie at at center for sure, at forward in general, would probably be the next guy to be called up to the NHL. And I I I’ll put it a step further. Barring injuries or real surprises, it is extremely likely that Cal Richie will play in the NHL before this season is over and have a bigger role than maybe some of the guys he ends up replacing. So look, there is more there was more competition for roster spots now than there had been over the last few years. Over the last two or three years, this roster was set well in advance. Everybody more or less knew who was going to make the roster and what not necessarily what the line combinations were, but who was going to make it and who wasn’t. And look, it it makes sense if the Islanders don’t make a trade, and it doesn’t look like they are, that Cal Richie starts on the opening season opening IR, goes down to Bridgeport and is the next guy up if injuries hit or if players are slumping and not playing well or if a trade is eventually made. And again, to me, and every day have heard me discuss this, uh, I want to see more of the veterans on this team between now and the trade deadline moved out to free up cap space to bring in more picks, more prospects, maybe even at this stage, more NHL ready prospects or very young NHL players uh, like a Cal Richie to fill that void. Now, when that happens may very well depend on how this team does coming out of the gate. We’ll see how that goes. But but again, Cal Richie likely to start the season on season opening IR. As is Pierre Angvall, who really has a different issue if you think about it. uh angal still not practicing with the team has not returned. So where does he fit in once he’s healthy? There is no real place in my mind that he fits in. I don’t see Pierre Angball playing instead of Max Ciplov or Maxim Shabanov or Shabanov, excuse me. Uh, I I I don’t think he makes sense playing on the fourth line because he’s not physical at all and you really want some physicality on that fourth line. And it really just also doesn’t make sense to pay a player $3 million a year, which is Envall’s cap hit to either sit in the press box or to go down to Bridgeport. Now, the cap hit gets lowered a little bit if he goes down to Bridgeport. I believe they save 1.2 million out of three million on the cap. They still have to pay him the three million, but the cap hit gets reduced. I think they should send him down to Bridgeport and then try for a rehab stint. And then look, send him back, let him stay there. And if he has to pass through waiverss and somebody actually claims him, so be it. Better yet, try to work out a trade for Pierre Ball. with five more years left on his deal. I don’t know, you know, how many GMs will be lining up to sign him at this point, but I I just don’t see a place for Pierre Angal in this lineup. He hasn’t been consistent enough to be in the top nine. He isn’t physical enough to be on the fourth line. And it just seems to me that he and Patrick Wah have rarely been on the same page where out of 10 games uh you know Pierre Angel plays really well on average three out of 10 where he plays the way Patrick W wants him to. He goes to the net. He doesn’t stay on the perimeter. He’s a little more aggressive with the puck. Uh but seven games out of 10 on average, he seems to be invisible or not playing the way Patrick Wah wants him to play. I I I really think the Islanders should move on from Pierre Angball at this point to save a little cap space to free up room for guys like Cal Richie. And I think there are other players starting the season in Bridgeport who probably would be more valuable to the Islanders than Pierre Enval unless Enval proves everybody wrong and starts playing the way Patrick Wah wants him to play seven or eight games out of 10. if he can suddenly be consistent, he has the speed, he has the reach, he has, you know, aspects of his game that make him an NHL quality player. The problem is he just doesn’t do it consistently enough. And I I just don’t see where he fits into this team this year. Again, I’d love for him to prove me wrong. Go out and score 20 goals, 25 goals, and have a great season, Pierre. I’d love to see it, but you know, I got to see it. So, that’s the sort of injury news that the Islanders are facing. It kind of complicates the final roster decisions, but we’ll see where Matthew Dar and Patrick Wah go from here. We are going to talk about the line combinations the Islanders had in their practice on Sunday and they held it in a special place. We’ll talk about that plus a lot more coming up on today’s Lockdown Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You can link all your accounts in minutes, see clear data visuals, get smart categorization of your spending, and finally feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. I love how if you’re sharing accounts with your significant other, Monarch can help you both stay on the same page. So, don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code locked onnhl at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on NHL. So line combinations always uh a hot topic because well the New York Islanders kind of uh switch them up a lot. Let’s put it that way. Now, the Islanders did spend the weekend way out on uh eastern Long Island for some team bonding events and they actually went to the Ed Westfall Arena in Calverton to have their last practice on Sunday. And we did get some new line combinations. Uh the top line, Bo Horvat, Jonathan Druan, and Emile Heinaman. Druan returning to practice. So that was very good. He missed three practices and a preseason game due to illness. Patrick W basically saying he feels better. He’s good to go. And that’s very good sign. So we get Drewanne back for opening day. And it’s a concern that Jonathan Drewan missed time again in the preseason due to injury. Look, obviously better to be cautious and hold him out of preeason games rather than regular season games. No question about that. but he has an injury history that is unfortunately fairly lengthy and you just don’t want to see that continue. So Drewanne back should be ready to go Thursday in Pittsburgh for the opening game. The second line, Matthew Barzal, centering Anders Lee and Kyle Palm Mary, a veteran line of guys who have played together at various times over the courses of of their career. Uh, and again, you’ve got the speedy Barzal, the moderately speedy Pal Mary, and the more physical, bigger Anders Lee in that combination. Right now the third line is JG Pacio, Maxine Shabanov and uh Simon Holmstrom. So you got Pacio and Holmstrom who have a big long history together. Those guys are you know 15 goals at most for Pio, 20 hopefully to 25 for Holstrom and then Shabanov becomes the wild card. How quickly can he adjust to life in the National Hockey League uh and stay in the lineup every day? There is no doubt there will be a learning curve and hopefully by November, December into February, we see a much more comfortable and much more productive Max Shabanov than we do here early in the season. But right now it’s Pasio, Shabanov, and Holstrom opening up on the third line. And then the fourth line, and this is interesting, Casey Sazikus, Anthony Duclair, and Max Ciplov. So again, Sazikas and Ciplov bigger, they can be physical. Duclair adds an element of speed and maybe a little bit of scoring element. Although, wow. Uh, I I really don’t see Anthony Duclair fitting well on the fourth line over the long term. So, we’ll see how that goes. Maybe it makes him play a a slightly different style and we’ll see whether or not, you know, he’s conducive to that. You could see this fourth line being more productive offensively than recent Islanders fourth lines. going back more than a decade really because say what you want about the identity line and they did their job exceptionally well. But you know putting up a lot of goals was not their thing. If Ciplov gets 15, Duclair gets 15 and Sikas gets eight or nine that’s a pretty solid hall for your fourth line. and you know, Ciplov and Duclair may also see some time on the power play over the course of the season. So, that’s an interesting situation as well. Uh, you then have Kyle Mlan and Mark Gadkcom as your extra forwards. So, we’ll see, you know, how that plays out. On the blue line, you have Ryan Pock and Adam Pelic, Alex Romanov, and Tony D’Angelo. You have the rookie Matthew Schaefer and Scott Mayfield. And then your extra pair, Isaiah George and Adam Bokefist. And again, every day may recall that Patrick W said he’s going to keep Isaiah George up with the big club as long as he can because he thinks that it’s valuable for Isaiah George to get that experience. even if it’s just being around veterans and seeing what they do on a dayto-day basis. So Isaiah George almost certainly he’s waivers exempt just like uh Cal Richie is. So Isaiah George almost certainly heading back to Bridgeport and we’ll see how that all plays out. But again, I think he is the first call up if there’s an injury. Now, again, it may depend on left side versus right side, but I I still believe that Isaiah George will play significant games with the Islanders again, depending on how he does in Bridgeport, who stays healthy, etc. One thing we know about the Islanders blue line, injuries were a big problem last year and that means Isaiah George will almost certainly get some callups. It’s important that the blue line stays healthier. And the other important thing is you don’t want Isaiah George up in the press box. The kid is what, 20, 21 years old. You want him on the ice and I would rather have Isaiah George playing 25 26 minutes a game power play penalty kill down in Bridgeport than sitting in the press box or you know playing two out of every eight games or so in the NHL. I want him on the ice. But you go back to last year, Adam Pel missed 22 games. Alexander Romanov missed 18 games. Tony D’Angelo missed several games. Again, he wasn’t on the roster the whole season, but you know, Scott Mayfield missing 16 games. Uh there were a lot of injuries on the blue line last year. They’ve got to stay healthier in order to have a chance to be more competitive this season. And uh blue line health certainly is part of that. We have got more to get to on today’s show for uh we’ll talk a little bit more about some roster moves throughout the organization. Plus, for our Islanders birthday of the day, an Austrian forward with a lot of speed who was great for the Islanders in the early to mid 2000 teams. Let’s see if you can guess who that is. All that and more coming up on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if that first $5 bet wins. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love AlfanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built same game parlays for better odds. I’ve tried player props and even followed the live lines during games. It makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding on the action. Whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Again, place that first $5 bet. If it hits, you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. fanul.com. Check it out today. So, an interesting move made by the Islanders that I wasn’t really expecting to be honest with you. Uh but it it did happen and you know it’s kind of interesting to see uh the Islanders first of all make some goalending moves that are depth goalending moves uh in the organization and I wasn’t expecting necessarily this uh they sent both of their younger goalies Henrik Tikkin and Tristan Lennox to the Worcester Railers of the ECHL. So, none of the prospect goalies are going to be in Bridgeport. It’s going to be Marcus Hogberg and Parker Gahhagen in Bridgeport. Two veterans. And why? Well, here’s the deal. I think last year goalending was a struggle for Bridgeport and clearly under those circumstances they wanted to make sure that they would be able to be more stable to just play more competitive hockey at Bridgeport. So, as a result, that’s the move they decided to make and uh we’ll see how that pays off and how long it happens, how long it stays that way because realistically, you want more players. You want one prospect and one veteran at Bridgeport. They didn’t do that. We’ll see again how long it stays this way. And it may depend on Semian Varl Lamov’s health because then they could send David Riddic back. Lots of variables here. We’ll keep an eye on that situation. The Islanders also announced the Bridgeport Islanders that they had signed right-handed defenseman Andre Suster to an AHL PTO. Now, he’s a 34 year old veteran who was released from his training camp PTO by the Rangers a week ago. And now with the injury to Ethan Bear, who is also out for a few weeks, uh, he suffered a hand injury, blocking a shot against the Devils back on September 26th. So, there’s only three right defensemen, including Isaiah George, who may have to play on his off side. They only have Cole Mcard and Marshall Warren. So you you end up signing Sustra to a PTO. Now in the AHL, a PTO can last up to 25 games, so no need to worry about that and you could always sign him to a contract or let him go. This is not a player who I anticipate being on the big club anytime soon. But again, what we’re seeing under Matthew Dar is a little bit more of a commitment to at least having Bridgeport be competitive, not to be the laughing stock of the AHL, to set records for home ice futility, to be, you know, having the worst record year after year in the entire league. I’m not saying Bridgeport is ready to compete for the Calder Cup, but at least there is an effort being made to improve the on ice product, and that is a step in the right direction. So, we’re still waiting on some injuries on some other moves, sending Isaiah George down, but the opening day roster for the Islanders pretty close to set as of right now. And of course, we will have you updated every step of the way here on the Locked Islanders podcast. Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day. And Sunday was was the 38th birthday of former Islanders forward Michael Grabbner. The Villa, Austria native, 61, 188 pounds, first round pick by the Canucks in 2006, 14th overall. made his NHL debut with Vancouver in 2009 2010. Joined the Islanders in 2011 2012, scored 34 goals that year, but dropped to 20 the following year and never matched that. Stayed with the Isles through the 2014 2015 season. Later played for the Maple Leafs, the Rangers, the Devils, and the Coyotes. Grabner so fast. He could move. He get lot of breakaways. couldn’t always finish them and he was kind of a sigh young guy. Uh 34 goals, 18 assists in that 2010 2011 season. for his career, 640 NHL games, 175 goals, 276 points, 110 penalty minutes, add nine goals and 15 points in 40 uh playoff games with six uh excuse me, eight of those playoff games coming with the Islanders. one of his better games as an Islander. February 13th, 2011, Islanders visiting the Buffalo Sabres in Western New York. And in this game, it’s uh Almanatoya for the Islanders in goal, Ryan Miller for the Sabres, and our Islanders birthday of the day, Michael Grabbner opens the scoring just 40 seconds into the game. Kyle Aoso and Fron Nielsen with the assist. One- nothing Islanders. Islanders though at the end of one period trail three-2. They go down four-3 after two periods and then Michael Grabbner, our Islanders birthday of the day, scores an unassisted goal three minutes into the third period to tie it. The game ends up going to overtime and 2 minutes and 55 seconds into the extra session, Michael Grabbner completes the hattick. Kyle Aposo and Andrew McDonald with the helpers. Islanders beat the Sabres by a final score of seven to six. Mononttoya with 12 saves and 14 shots. He mopped up for Mo Costinan who got the start. Meanwhile, uh for the Islanders, our Islanders birthday of the day, Michael Grabner, the hattrick. He’s a plus one. He led the team with six shots on goal and he was on ice for 15 minutes and six seconds. And yes, he had the game winner. So, Michael Grabbner is our Islanders birthday of the day. Thank you for making Locked on NHL your excuse me, thank you for making locked on Islanders your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked on NHL game night. Every game, every night until a Stanley Cup champion is crowned, get local analysis on a national scale. Find Locked On NHL game night at Locked On NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. If you have a question, a comment, maybe a topic you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, send us an email to lockdown islanders atgmail.com. And if you leave your first name and where you’re from, we’re happy to mention you on the show when we discuss whatever’s on your mind. You could follow the show on X at Locked on Isles. You could follow me, Gil Martin, on X at Icew Warsnyrvsny. We’ll keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long. And I’m live tweeting during every Islanders home and road game. So join me for some instant insight and analysis. And it’s always great to talk Island Islanders hockey with you game time or anytime. Every day, we are back tomorrow. We’ll have the latest Islanders news, notes, and happenings. the final roster will be set. So, we will update you on that and any other Islanders news as we prepare for game one against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Until then, have a great day everybody. Stay safe and of course, let’s go Islanders.

Islanders’ roster shakeup: Injuries, line combos, and unexpected moves. Will these changes propel New York to new heights?

Host Gil Martin breaks down the Isles’ season-opening roster, highlighting Cal Ritchie’s and Pierre Engvall’s uncertain future. He analyzes the intriguing line combinations, including Bo Horvat centering Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman. The discussion covers defensive pairings, goaltending shuffles, and Bridgeport’s improved competitiveness under Mathieu Darche’s leadership.

Key topics include Mathew Barzal’s role, rookie Matthew Schaefer’s NHL debut, and organizational depth adjustments. Martin also revisits Michael Grabner’s memorable hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres.

Tune in for expert insights on how these roster decisions could shape the New York Islanders’ upcoming season and playoff aspirations.

All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.

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