The Islanders return to the ice for the first time tonight as they battle the Toronto Maple Leafs in Long Island. Due to the mounting injuries of Nielsen, Tavares and Martin this lineup will look drastically different.
Mike Halmo will be making his NHL debut tonight on the fourth line. Halmo will bring some much needed sandpaper to the lineup. He reminds me of cross between Michael Haley and Aaron Asham. He is not the fighter that Haley is but he has more offensive ability than him and should be able to play the role of fourth line pest. Joining him on fourth line will be tough guy Eric Boulton and birthday boy Casey Cizikas.
Due to all these injuries all the lines will be brand new tonight and it will be interesting to see how they come together as a team. Brock Nelson will center the top line and he will be flanked by Kyle Okposo and Thomas (still here for now) Vanek. The second line will see Josh Bailey moved back to center and he will be lined up with Michael Grabner and Cal Clutterbuck. Finally Rookie centerman Ryan Strome will lead the third line with Anders Lee and Colin McDonald.
One thing that is for certain that these lines are a work in progress. I would expect to see some line juggling if they are not successful as honestly this team simply needs to see what will stick at this point. I am excited to see what the injection of youth will do to the team. Realistically we know that the remainder of the season will be trying however I am looking for these kids to step and grab the roster spots that they are now immersed in. This is a golden opportunity to evaluate the likes of Lee and Strome to see where they fit in moving ahead with the big club.
Returning to the net will be Evgeni Nabokov as he will start for the Islanders tonight and until the Islanders are eliminated officially from playoff contention I would expect Nabby to see the lion share of the load.
The trade front remains the same on Vanek and Macdonald. Anaheim, Detroit and Los Angeles still seem to be the leaders for Vanek. In regards to MacDonald I’m still hearing D.C. Toronto and to a lesser extent Boston. I expect this will go down to the wire on Wednesday. As Always for more on all things hockey please follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @DanDanNoodles78.