Yesterday, we went over which players have impressed for the New York Islandersso far this year. Today, we’ll be going the other way and looking at who hasn’t lived up to expectations so far.
Probably the easiest to predict on this list is Derick Brassard. As a late offseason addition, he was expected to be improve New York’s top-nine. So far, he hasn’t and with just one assist in eight games and a brutal minus-five rating (by far the worst on the team), we’re not seeing a player who’s able to drive much offense on his own. He doesn’t seem to be meshing very well, though a revolving door of winger combinations wouldn’t help that either.
Unlike Brassard, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin aren’t really supposed to be providing offense each game but instead providing energy and “identity…. I’d say so far, they haven’t really been successful in either category. It’s important to note that the pair has been missing Casey Cizikas for much of the early season but the fact that Barry Trotz, who was a fan of the line, has already scratched Martin this season shows that the chemistry hasn’t been working like it usually does.
On defense, I see just one notable name who’s been underperforming a bit and that’s Ryan Pulock. He really established himself as New York’s top all-around defenseman last season but part of that includes the ability to produce. While Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield are judged much more on simply their ability to defend, Pulock needs to be able to provide some offense on top of that and one assist in eight games– to a team that probably isn’t going to get a ton of offense this year as is– isn’t good enough. I don't think he's performed poorly but rather he isn't contributing as much as we'd expect him to.
New York’s next game comes tomorrow night when they host the Arizona Coyotes.
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OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER