ENERGY: New York Islanders Face Tough CHOICE—Who Sits When Jean-Gabriel Pageau RETURNS?

ENERGY: New York Islanders Face Tough CHOICE—Who Sits When Jean-Gabriel Pageau RETURNS?

The good news is that some of the New York Islanders injured players are close to returning. But the big question is who has to be out of the lineup once these players come back. We’ll tell you who and why on some decisions that’ll have a big impact on the future of this team 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 podcast network, your team every day. Welcome everybody to the Tuesday edition of the Locked On Islanders podcast, part of the Locked On 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. And thank you for helping to make Locked On the number one sports podcast network. We couldn’t have done it without you. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. I’m Gil Martin. I’ve been covering the New York Islanders for almost 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 that you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey and we’ve got plenty to discuss. Couple of injured Islanders players close to returning to the lineup, but that means two players will have to sit. We’ll talk about the candidates and why certain players should sit uh and and the impact that that will have on the team. We’ll also talk about the slumping Simon Holmstrom and what’s been off on his game. And we’ll preview tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. So, lots to get to on this episode. The good news for the New York Islanders, JG Pacio probably going to play tonight against Vegas, although we’ll find out more at the Morning Skate on Tuesday. Uh, but he is now officially dayto-day where he was week to week when the injury first happened. And Jonathan Dru is also closer to returning than he has been. Whether or not he’ll be available as soon as Pacou, I think it’ll probably be a little while longer on Drewan. But either way, they’re both close. And barring setbacks, that means that two players who have been in the lineup over the last week or so are going to have to take a seat in the press box. And realistically, one player at least is going to have to go back down to Bridgeport. Now, the last player to be called up was Mark Gatkam. And Gatkam, I think would it would be the easiest thing would be to say, okay, we send Mark Gatkam back down to Bridgeport. Uh because he was the last guy called up. He was called up when uh injuries hit JG Pacio. Pio was healthy. We send Gatkam back. That’s the easy thing. But it’s not the right move. When you look at the energy and the sense of purpose that Mark Gatkam has given the fourth line in granted a small sample size of two games, you don’t want to take him out of the lineup right now. And look, Gatkam has played what? Four games all year. He has one assist. But think about this. Four games all season for Mark Gatkam. He has 20 hits. 20 hits. In four games. Jonathan Druan has six hits in 26 games. I I I mean, again, not a fair comparison because their style of play is so different, but if you’ve noticed, the fourth line since Gatkam returned has been much more efficient and and and played better. And it seems that Gatkam has put a little spark in Casey Sikas and even in Kyle Mlan who had been kind of invisible for a good part of the season before Gatkam was recalled. The problem before this before Gatkam returned with one game that I could think of as an exception. the fourth line was a liability at worst and a non- entity at best. You don’t want that to be the case. You want to be able to roll four lines and get that fourth line to set the tone for your team. Keeping Gakam around will do that. I don’t want him to go back down to Bridgeport at this point. I want him in the lineup. Other players I think who could sit to me, Max Ciplov is a real possibility. Cippy has played 20 games. He has one goal, no assists. He is a minus six. And while Ciplov can hit, you know, he can bring a little physicality, he doesn’t seem to me to be a fourthline player. And the problem with Max Ciplov, Maxim Ciplov, is there’s no room for him in the top nine, but his style isn’t particularly well suited to the fourth line. And right now he just seems like a guy without a home. You don’t want to take him completely out of the lineup if you don’t have to. But I really don’t see where he fits in and who you would put him in the lineup instead of unless there’s a guy you want to bench for a game or two to see, you know, to maybe wake him up and give him give him that wakeup call. Anthony Duclair has been playing better as of late, but he’s another guy like Ciplov who when everybody’s healthy doesn’t seem to have a space in the top nine, but really his style isn’t well suited for that fourth line. So, that’s one issue. The other issue is Cal Richie. Richie has five points in 20 games, but he’s been playing better as of late. We saw that beautiful goal he had against Tampa Bay that turned out to be the game winner on Saturday. And the fact that JG Pio has been out of the lineup allowed Richie to move up from the fourth line to the third line. I don’t want Richie to to to go back to the fourth line at this point. I just don’t think that suits his game best. Then you got to bench either Mlan or Gatkam and you end up having Szikas on the wing. No, I I would rather even move Cal Richie to the second line and then have uh Matthew Barzal go back to the wing again. Not so much because I think Barzy is a much better wing than he is a center. He’s probably a better center than he is a wing. But as everydayers may recall, and as I’ve mentioned several times, this team has a little glut at center and not as enough offense right now, especially with Kyle Palmary and for now Jonathan Druan out of the lineup. They need more firepower on the wing. And then you add the chemistry that we know Bo Horvat has with Matthew Barzal and that’s another reason. So these are all things that Patrick Wah and Matthew Darsh need to figure out who sits, who goes where in the lineup. Knowing Patrick Wah there’s going to be mixing and matching. I think we will I I I am confident when I say that a lot of guys will be in and out of the lineup. A lot of guys will be on and off the fourth line. Uh Matthew Barzal, I could say with the utmost confidence will see time both on the wing and at center sometimes within the same game, but ultimately you want to find out what works. I want to keep Mark Gatkam in the lineup on the fourth line. I want to keep Cal Richie in the middle six. And I think that you may want to sit a Duclair or a Ciplov or or you could even sit another player who is typically in your top nine who maybe just needs a game or two in the press box to get his bearings again. and and sort of get his game back and functioning. We’ll see what Patrick Wad does, but we’re going to talk about that player who is struggling badly lately and may need to sit for a couple of games. We’ll talk about that. Plus, for our Islanders birthday of the day, a player who scored the very first hattick in New York Islanders history. Let’s see if you can guess who that is. All of that coming up on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays. Move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you could place bets as the action unfolds. every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift, a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. FanDuel lets you jump into the moment. Live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. Player props update as guys heat up and you can bet on next touchdown scorers, drive results, totals, and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your live NFL bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Thank you for making Locked On Islanders your first listen of the day. And thank you for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. You already love your team every day. Now take it up a level and go ad free. Join the Everydayer Club and get Locked on Islanders with no interruptions, membersonly Discord access, and more. All for just $5 a month or $50 a year. Just go to lockdown islanders.cast.com and check the link in the show notes to learn more. So, let’s talk about Simon Holmstrom because as much as I really like Simon Holmstrom and I acknowledge what he’s been able to do on the penalty kill, always seems to be dangerous offensively on the penalty kill, but he is in a major scoring drought right now. And it’s not even just a scoring drought. Homestrom right now has four goals and nine points on the season and he is a minus eight. But if I asked you the last time Simon Holmstrom recorded a point in a game, the answer would be November 8th. That is a month and a day ago, November 8th, when he recorded an assist in the 5 nothing win at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. And the last time he scored a goal was October 30th when he scored in Carolina against the Hurricanes. Since then, keep this in mind. Simon Holmstrom has gone 14 games without recording a point. He is a minus3 or now a minus4, excuse me, in those games. And he has a grand total of 12 shots on goal in those games. The last two games against Tampa Bay and Florida, zero shots on goal for Simon Holmstrom in both games. Zero. Zero. Not a winning formula. And every day, you’ve heard me say, one of the things about Simon Holmstrom, and he is very useful to this team in the sense that he’s sound defensively. He back checkcks. He kills penalties. He is not physical at all. And to be successful, Simon Holstrom needs to be more confident. And right now, he’s just not playing with confidence. And you need to see that. And you, we have talked on this show several times about the lack of confidence that Simon Holmstrom has in his shot. Even with only four goals in 27 shots, that’s a 14.8% shooting percentage, which by the way places him fifth on the team. but he just doesn’t shoot enough. He has fewer than one shot on goal per game. The shot is good enough, but he seems to lack confidence in it. And that is a real problem. I mean, do you realize that Simon Holmstrom has the same number of shots on the season as Scott Mayfield, although Holstrom played in one extra game. Cal Richie, who saw a lot less minutes and has played nine fewer games than Simon Holmstrom, has only two fewer shots on goal. Simon Holmstrom needs to get his confidence back. And for what it’s worth, I have observed that there are certain players on this team. No matter how poorly they play, they don’t seem to get benched. And right now, Simon Holmstrom appears to be a member of that club. I want to seem get his game back, get his swagger back, get that confidence back. I believe he is an integral part of this team longterm. He scored 20 goals last year and all of us before the season started were hoping he’d at least match that and he still could. But not if he’s playing the way he’s playing right now. We need to see more from Simon Holmstrom. And if it means sitting him for a game or two so we can watch from the press box and get a little bit of a different perspective, I’m okay with that. And maybe it is time to to do that because when when you’re getting players back when Jonathan Drewan returns, maybe you sit homestrom for a game or two and then figure out who sits long term after that. Uh but something has to change now. Maybe getting JG Pou back will be a bit of a catalyst for Holstrom because they have very good chemistry. It’s worth I would say keeping Holstrom in the lineup assuming that Pacou returns let’s say tonight against Vegas and see if that return and that chemistry does give a little more juice to Holstrom but the patience has to be wearing thin and I’m not saying trade him and I’m not saying him send him to Bridgeport I’m just saying let the guy sit a game or two to just get back on track. One other little piece of news I wanted to touch on. Uh Ilia Sroken, Islanders goalie, named the NHL’s first star for the week ending December 7th. He was 30 and0 over the week. Had a 960 save percentage and a 1.33 goals against average. Had his third shut out of the year Saturday against Tampa Bay. and as we’ve mentioned uh is now tied with 25 career shutouts as an Islander with Glenn Chico Rash who’s still Chico Rash for Islanders Hall of Fame next year. Can we get this done please? It’s overdue and Chico deserves it. And anybody who watched the Islanders play in the 70s, who’s old enough to remember from, let’s say, 74,75 until 1980,881, what Chico Rush meant to this team. He belongs in the Islanders Hall of Fame, probably ahead of some of the guys who were already in there. Let’s fix this and bring Chico in for a great ceremony because he deserves to be there. So, congratulations to Ilia Siroken. A welldeserved honor as the NHL’s first star of the week, which means he was the best player in the NHL last week. And boy, does that have a big impact on the New York Islanders, especially with the offense hurting with all these injuries. The Islanders have needed Sroken to step up and he’s done it. And when you think about the lack of scoring that the Islanders have had since Pio Pali and Druan have been out of the lineup, uh it makes it even more impressive that Siroken is doing so well because he has so little margin for error. The pressure is definitely on him and he’s coming up big. So, congratulations to Ilia Siroken for his uh winning the NHL’s first star of the week for the week ending Sunday, December 7th. We have got more to get to on today’s show. The Islanders host the Vegas Golden Knights tonight. We will talk about that, preview that game. Plus, did you get our Islanders birthday of the day, the first hattick in Islanders history? We’ll talk about that and more next on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it’s going to be massive. But let’s be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. That’s why the Game Time app is clutch. Finally giving fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. With Game Time, you could track price times in price drops in real time. Get alerts when great seats open and buy tickets the moment they hit the app. It puts the power back in your hands and makes going to the World Cup realistic instead of impossible. Pick a game, tap a section, and you have your tickets within minutes. No confusion, no hunting for fine print. The seat view feature is a game changer. You literally see what the pitch looks like from your exact seat before you buy. So take the guesswork out of buying World Cup tickets in every match, concert, or event with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, download the app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. Islanders Vegas Golden Knights tonight. Home game for the Islanders after the twoame Florida road trip. 7 o’clock Eastern time. This is a TNT game. So, uh, make sure that you go to the right place if you want to watch this game. Vegas right now second place in the Pacific Division. They are 146 and8 on the season. And oh by the way, this is a team that has won their last four games coming off uh a three nothing win at New Jersey Friday, a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. And now they are trying to sweep the three New York area teams with this game against the Islanders. And look, Vegas is a perennial contender. They’re struggling a little bit right now to score goals, and that I think is maybe the the biggest surprise. They’re 17th in the league in goals scored, which is, you know, right around the middle. 16th would be dead center. They’re ninth in goals against the power play is sixth. So the Islanders do need to stay out of the box. They’re scoring one out of every four power play opportunities. The PK is 11th, just outside the top 10. So special teams are an issue for the for the the uh New York Islanders in this game. You cannot afford to be giving up power play chances against this team. And it will be tough for the Islanders to score on the power play. Although it’s always tough for these Islanders right now to score on the power play. The big name on this team more than anybody, Jack Eel. 12 goals, 36 points in 28 games. He has 24 assists in 28 games. Mitch Mner 27 points but only five goals. Uh Ivan Barbesev has 10 goals but Tomas Hurdle leading the team with 13. And Pavl Dora FV has 11 goals. This is a team that is not easy to play against. They’re big, they’re skilled, and they’re physical. And again, the lack of physicality by the Islanders, you have to hope it doesn’t become a big issue. The line combinations for Vegas, Jack Eel, Ivan Barbashev, and Braden Bowman are the top trio. Brett Hen centers Mitch Mner and Mark Stone on a very dangerous second line. Tomas Hurle, Brandon Sod, and Pavdor Afe, the third line. And then the fourth line, Riley Smith centering Cole Reinhardt to his left, Keegan Kolasar to his right. On the blue line, Braden McNab and Shay Theodore are the top pairing. Noah Hannerneathan and Zack Whitecloud, the second duo. And then Ben Hutton and Kaden Cororsac are the third pair on the in goal. Akira Schmid and Carter Hart right now. Alex Peter Angelo, Aiden Hill, William Carlson, and Jeremy Lousen all on Iir. So, we’ll keep an eye to see who the goalie is. For what it’s worth, uh, against the Rangers on Sunday, Vegas went with Carter Hart, so I think we’re likely to see Schmid in this game. He’s 10-2 with a 235 goals against and a 9003 save percentage. the Islanders. They don’t have to be the most physical team in the in in the world in this game, but they cannot be intimidated by Vegas, and they’ve got to win enough of those 50/50 puck battles in the corners, especially again, please keep Mark Gatkam in the lineup. I really want to see that fourth line continue to work its magic. Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day. And well, today would have been the 83rd birthday of former Islanders wingers Germaine Gagnan. The Chacudami, Quebec native made his NHL debut in 1971-72 with the Montreal Canadians and joined the Islanders in their expansion season of 7273. scored 12 goals, 41 points, and had 31 penalty minutes in 63 games, played most of 7374 with the Islanders, and then was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks. Later played for the Kansas City Scouts and finishes his career after the 7576 season. He played in 259 NHL games, 40 goals, 141 points, and 72 penalty minutes. Now, he did pass away 14 years ago, unfortunately. But Gagnan has one distinction that will never be taken away. He scored the very first hat-tick in New York Islanders history. It came on November 1st, 1972. The Islanders visiting the Oakland County Coliseum Arena against the California Golden Seals. Jerry Dejardan, the Islanders goalie. Jill Malashsh, the goalie for the Seals. And our Islanders birthday of the day is Germaine Gagnan opens the scoring midway through the first period. Dave Hudson and Ken Murray the assist. Islanders up one to nothing. And then in the third period, Gagnan scores his second goal. Dave Hudson and Billy Harris with the helpers. And with five minutes left, he closes out the scoring and gets that first ever Islanders hat-tick. Billy Harris with the only assist. Craig Patrick had two goals for California, but the Islanders win it by a score of six-2 for Germaine Gagnan. Our Islanders birthday of the day. He had three goals. He was a plus three. He had five shots on goal which tied him with Billy Harris for the team lead. Dejar Dan 29 saves to earn the win. And this was only the second win in Islanders history as they beat the Seals 6-2. Second win in Islanders history. First hat-tick in Islanders history. The late Germaine Gagnan is our Islanders birthday of the day. Thanks for tuning in to today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. Make sure you subscribe and follow Locked On Islanders so you get all the latest episodes. And did Locked On Islanders make your Spotify wrapped? Prove it on social media to secure a free month of our brand new Everyday Dairer Club. Just tag our national locked on podcast network account on any social platform and we’ll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to membersonly Discord channels. And for those of you on video, we sent you the first ever 247 National Locked on Podcast Network YouTube channel. on audio. Make sure you make your second listen NHL game night on Locked on NHL. So again, the link is in the show notes. And uh thank you for making Locked on Islanders your first listen every day. You could follow the show on X at Locked on Isles. You could follow me Gil Martin on X at Icewars NYRVSNYI. We’ll keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long. and I’m live tweeting during nearly every Islanders home and road game. So, join me for a little instant insight and analysis. And it’s great to talk Island Islanders hockey with you game time or anytime. Everydayers, we are back tomorrow. We will have our key takeaways from tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights and we will also have our weekly farm and prospects report. So, make sure you join us for that. Until then, have a great day everybody. Stay safe and of course, let’s go Islanders.

The New York Islanders prepare for a crucial roster shakeup as injured stars JG Pageau and Jonathan Drouin near return. Which regulars will be forced out of the lineup, and could Mark Gatcom’s recent energy on the fourth line secure his spot over veterans? Explore the strategic choices facing coach Patrick Roy as the team balances chemistry, physicality, and the urgent need for offensive firepower.

Gil Martin covers Simon Holmstrom’s worrying scoring drought, Cal Ritchie’s rise, and the complicated futures of Anthony Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov. Plus, Ilya Sorokin’s stellar week earns NHL First Star honors, and a preview of the pivotal matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights spotlights key threats like Jack Eichel. Who will step up, and can the Islanders solve their lineup puzzle to ignite a playoff push?

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

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