Update 7:45 Isles recall Ryan Strome, Anders Lee and Mike Halmo. I actually love the fact that Halmo will get a much deserved look with the big club. Could be a spark plug.
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With the Olympic break behind us now and the news of John Tavares breaking the hearts of Islanders fans everywhere the team will return to action on Thursday at the Nassau Veteran’s memorial Coliseum as they square off with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team that takes the ice on Thursday will look drastically different as numerous roster moves will occur before then.

It is expected that Ryan Strome, Anders Lee and Matt Donovan will be called up and I do believe that Islander fans will also get their first look at rookie Johan Sundstrom. Moving forward till the end of the season this team is going to be full of kids who hopefully will be gaining valuable experience.

The one player who has been playing like an absolute beast in the AHL is power forward Anders Lee. The Notre Dame alum is really coming into his own as his all-around game has improved and his skating has been noticeably better since his stint on the island last spring. The kid has talent; he has a legit NHL shot and smooth hands and couple that with a willingness to bang and crash the net; he is someone that Islander fans should be excited to see. I’m still not sure what his ceiling is but if Lee can develop into a third line 20 goal scorer who will take the body and score dirty goals I think everyone would approve of that.

We will have to look at the line combos closely in the upcoming practices but I do believe that until the trade deadline we will see a top line of Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo and Thomas Vanek. With Frans Nielsen still injured I would expect to see Ryan Strome center the second line with Josh Bailey. With the success that Michael Grabner had at the Olympics I would give him a shot to work with Strome and Bailey on the second line for a few games. With all the injuries the coaching staff needs to flexible and honestly needs to throw all the combos on the wall and see what sticks.

The upcoming weeks will be interesting. With the trade deadline a little over a week away the rumor mill will start to churn up again. I still see L.A. or Anaheim as the best trade partners for Vanek as they both have deep enough farm systems to make it work. The closer the deadline approaches the better the deals will become. What the Islanders need to happen is find that one trade partner that fully believes that acquiring Vanek will put them over the top on a cup run. If you can find that GM you can get the players you want in return.

Until then the Islanders will be going young for the remainder of the season. We should expect to see even more growing pains than we saw in the fall but we should see some flashes of potential and a group of kids that are going to play hungry. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @DanDanNoodles78.

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