It would be silly to say the Islanders are in serious trouble right now given they’ve won six of their last eight games.
But with Bo Horvat missing for the time being, Kyle Palmieri and Alexander Romanov out for the season and two straight lackluster performances without No. 14, the most recent resulting in a 3-2 loss to the Red Wings on Tuesday in which they were thoroughly outplayed, it’s fair to say the Islanders have hit some adversity.
It’s not at the point where general manager Mathieu Darche should think about shaking the foundations with a big trade, and even if it were, it’s early enough in the season that such a thing probably wouldn’t be so easy anyway.
Rather, the Islanders need to think about stopgaps that can help them bridge the next few weeks until Horvat returns from his lower-body injury.