Ben Shelley: Islanders announce opening night roster

Liked what I saw out of Soshnikov. Can skate well and carry the puck. Also looks to have a pretty good shot.

Let's Go Islanders!

Think this year will be much different. The Pylons on defense are gone and Salo is finally in the lineup. Roman will be a big improvement and I think Barzy hits 90 points, Lane loosened the reigns. Bellows is motivated and Palms can't have a worse year than last.

Sorokin = Vezina!

John Tonelli HOF

Liked what I saw out of Soshnikov. Can skate well and carry the puck. Also looks to have a pretty good shot.
- Mancalledsting

Looking fwd to seeing what he can do while clutterbuck is out. It would be huge for our bottom 6 depth.

Looking fwd to seeing what he can do while clutterbuck is out. It would be huge for our bottom 6 depth.
- Cptmjl

There certainly seems to be a little bit of a log-jam at forward

The four centers are obvious, but after that a couple guys are going to need to sit

Parise/Lee/Martin/Johnston/Bellows/Soshnikov

Palmieri/Bailey/Beau/Wahlstrom/Clutterbuck

Frankly, once everyone is healthy, I'd sit Martin in favor of Soshnikov and Bellows in favor of Wahlstrom (moving Bailey to the left side)

There certainly seems to be a little bit of a log-jam at forward

The four centers are obvious, but after that a couple guys are going to need to sit

Parise/Lee/Martin/Johnston/Bellows/Soshnikov

Palmieri/Bailey/Beau/Wahlstrom/Clutterbuck

Frankly, once everyone is healthy, I'd sit Martin in favor of Soshnikov and Bellows in favor of Wahlstrom (moving Bailey to the left side)
- eichiefs9

How about move Bailey to Bridgeport and keep Bellows in the lineup.

There certainly seems to be a little bit of a log-jam at forward

The four centers are obvious, but after that a couple guys are going to need to sit

Parise/Lee/Martin/Johnston/Bellows/Soshnikov

Palmieri/Bailey/Beau/Wahlstrom/Clutterbuck

Frankly, once everyone is healthy, I'd sit Martin in favor of Soshnikov and Bellows in favor of Wahlstrom (moving Bailey to the left side)
- eichiefs9

Yeah unless bellows somehow exceeds expectations agreed. It’ll work itself out one way or the other it’s just good to have some competition in the lineup for once. Really hoping Soshnikov makes it hard for Lambert to sit him and we don’t just go back to throwing the same old out there if they’re underperforming.

How about move Bailey to Bridgeport and keep Bellows in the lineup.
- HolyDiver83

I'm far from Josh Bailey's biggest fan but that would be one god-awful move

Yeah unless bellows somehow exceeds expectations agreed. It’ll work itself out one way or the other it’s just good to have some competition in the lineup for once. Really hoping Soshnikov makes it hard for Lambert to sit him and we don’t just go back to throwing the same old out there if they’re underperforming.
- Cptmjl

I don't have great faith that Martin, Clutterbuck, and (to a much lesser degree) Cizikas will be particularly big contributors. If they get used as a traditional fourth line then that probably mitigates some of that, but they can't be throwing them out there for 14/15 minutes a night anymore

I don't have great faith that Martin, Clutterbuck, and (to a much lesser degree) Cizikas will be particularly big contributors. If they get used as a traditional fourth line then that probably mitigates some of that, but they can't be throwing them out there for 14/15 minutes a night anymore
- eichiefs9

They don’t seem to have much left in the tank that’s for sure. I don’t think(hope) he will lean on them as heavily as trotz did. To be fair they are not the same players as they were three years ago. They’ll most likely be more effective used a little more sparingly as you stated. The bottom line to me is having Soshnikov at the very least nipping at their heals will be a net positive imo. I just hope he really pushes for a spot and leaves lambert no choice. That’s more then likely how it will go down. I, like all of us, have no idea what to expect from lambert but he’ll more then likely toe the usual loyalty to vet players at the very least to an extent but lambert is the big unknown at this point.

They don’t seem to have much left in the tank that’s for sure. I don’t think(hope) he will lean on them as heavily as trotz did. To be fair they are not the same players as they were three years ago. They’ll most likely be more effective used a little more sparingly as you stated. The bottom line to me is having Soshnikov at the very least nipping at their heals will be a net positive imo. I just hope he really pushes for a spot and leaves lambert no choice. That’s more then likely how it will go down. I, like all of us, have no idea what to expect from lambert but he’ll more then likely toe the usual loyalty to vet players at the very least to an extent but lambert is the big unknown at this point.
- Cptmjl

Yea Martin and Clutterbuck are obviously declining, in both effectiveness and health.

Cizikas isn't nearly as much of a liability as either of them, but he led the team in minor penalties last year while getting the 10th most ice-time among forwards (who played in at least 25 games). That can't happen, especially when it's a guy who's pretty important for the penalty kill

Islanders announce opening night roster
Hurricanes’ opening night roster announced
Sharks announce roster for home opener
- Ben Shelley

Pick one format

Pick one format
- jmatchett383

Yea Martin and Clutterbuck are obviously declining, in both effectiveness and health.

Cizikas isn't nearly as much of a liability as either of them, but he led the team in minor penalties last year while getting the 10th most ice-time among forwards (who played in at least 25 games). That can't happen, especially when it's a guy who's pretty important for the penalty kill
- eichiefs9

Trotz became pretty predictable. Looking fwd to seeing how it shakes out with lambert.

I don't have great faith that Martin, Clutterbuck, and (to a much lesser degree) Cizikas will be particularly big contributors. If they get used as a traditional fourth line then that probably mitigates some of that, but they can't be throwing them out there for 14/15 minutes a night anymore
- eichiefs9

I love the idea of rolling 4 lines but it's very difficult at this point to play the 4th line the same amount of minutes that played in the past.

Trotz became pretty predictable. Looking fwd to seeing how it shakes out with lambert.
- Cptmjl

Barry is a great coach and especially on the defensive end but he had very little answers when the offense went south.

Barry is a great coach and especially on the defensive end but he had very little answers when the offense went south.
- ses111

He is a great coach and he had a great run with us. I think there were a lot of factors that went into last season being crap but you can’t fire the team.

He is a great coach and he had a great run with us. I think there were a lot of factors that went into last season being crap but you can’t fire the team.
- Cptmjl

I'm not referring to last year. I'm referring to overall in the past series like the Canes series and the Isles not being able to do much and being shutout twice against Tampa. There was a struggle to make needed adjustments in a big spot. I want the coaching staff this year to be willing to try different things if things are not working and to not be so locked in and stubborn. You need the defense as part of the attack and you cannot just rely on the 3 forwards for offense.

He is a great coach and he had a great run with us. I think there were a lot of factors that went into last season being crap but you can’t fire the team.
- Cptmjl

*looks at Chicago’s roster*

*looks at Chicago’s roster*


- Wildschwein

"It’s almost an identical roster to last season"

Except of course you no longer have a 39 year old Defenseman (Andy Greene), and a 45 year old Defenseman (Chara). You replaced Those incredibly Slow and no longer effective players with a 22 year old that played top pairing minutes on a Habs team that went to the Stanley cup finals 2 years ago as a rookie, and a 23 year old Robin Salo who looked very solid last year, has played for a team Finland U18 team that won a gold with him on the team.

So actually it's not even close to "identical" ..It's Faster, younger, and better, but what do I know.

"It’s almost an identical roster to last season"

Except of course you no longer have a 39 year old Defenseman (Andy Greene), and a 45 year old Defenseman (Chara). You replaced Those incredibly Slow and no longer effective players with a 22 year old that played top pairing minutes on a Habs team that went to the Stanley cup finals 2 years ago as a rookie, and a 23 year old Robin Salo who looked very solid last year, has played for a team Finland U18 team that won a gold with him on the team.

So actually it's not even close to "identical" ..It's Faster, younger, and better, but what do I know.
- niteislander

Most importantly, Salo and RomoCop have good speed. No more guys going around our d because of lack of foot speed.

"It’s almost an identical roster to last season"

Except of course you no longer have a 39 year old Defenseman (Andy Greene), and a 45 year old Defenseman (Chara). You replaced Those incredibly Slow and no longer effective players with a 22 year old that played top pairing minutes on a Habs team that went to the Stanley cup finals 2 years ago as a rookie, and a 23 year old Robin Salo who looked very solid last year, has played for a team Finland U18 team that won a gold with him on the team.

So actually it's not even close to "identical" ..It's Faster, younger, and better, but what do I know.
- niteislander

The defense is different and should be better. The forward group is the same and it would have been nice to add a few new faces. Hopefully we see a better system to get more offense out of the team.

"It’s almost an identical roster to last season"

Except of course you no longer have a 39 year old Defenseman (Andy Greene), and a 45 year old Defenseman (Chara). You replaced Those incredibly Slow and no longer effective players with a 22 year old that played top pairing minutes on a Habs team that went to the Stanley cup finals 2 years ago as a rookie, and a 23 year old Robin Salo who looked very solid last year, has played for a team Finland U18 team that won a gold with him on the team.

So actually it's not even close to "identical" ..It's Faster, younger, and better, but what do I know.
- niteislander

I agree with your addition by subtraction theory on the blue line. I had that same mind set when we signed Chara to begin with