EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — With just one more preseason game on the docket, Friday against the Rangers, the roster and lineup decisions are becoming clearer for Patrick Roy and Lou Lamoriello. Roy takes a glass-half-full approach to commenting on his players, so the Isles coach may not be revealing his true opinions when asked, but objectively this has been a solid preseason for his team.
Outside of the final 10 minutes at Madison Square Garden last week and a few stretches of Monday’s forgettable game against the Flyers, this Islanders team has looked well prepared and cohesive. As Roy has said often, it’s about the process and not the results right now. And the process has looked sharp.
Here’s a few observations on what we’ve seen and what may shake out in the next week, when the Islanders will get down to a 22-man roster and get ready for opening night on Oct. 10 against Utah.
The elephant in the crease
Ilya Sorokin’s absence has gone so long that Roy is no longer giving daily updates. What was termed by Lamoriello as something that might cause Sorokin to miss the first few days of camp — back surgery, as Roy revealed soon after Lamoriello’s comments — is now going to cause the Islanders’ No. 1 goalie to miss all of camp and at least the start of the regular season.
Good news first: The Islanders do not look lost in goal without Sorokin. Semyon Varlamov has been solid in his two appearances so far and he’ll likely get a period or two on Friday to be fully ready for the opener. “You prepare the same way,” Varlamov said regarding Sorokin’s absence. For a veteran who’s 14 wins shy of 300 for his career, Varlamov understands how to get ready for a season.
And the picture behind Varlamov is not as dire as in recent years. Marcus Högberg has been extremely capable in his two appearances, especially his full-game outing in Philadelphia last week, when he stopped 24 of 25 shots against an NHL-heavy Flyers lineup. Högberg has been out of the NHL for three years, but credit to the Isles’ European scouting staff — Högberg starting the season as Varlamov’s backup and possibly getting games doesn’t feel desperate.
Still, this is majorly concerning for the Islanders. Sorokin missing the first month of the season — just spitballing here since we are likely not getting more health updates — may not derail the Isles’ season, but it isn’t ideal, that’s for sure. Even if Varlamov plays at a high level, he’s 36 and showed some wear and tear in the first-round loss to the Hurricanes last spring after playing eight of the Isles’ final 12 games of the regular season.
MacLean’s rise continues
Not through the lineup, mind you, but Kyle MacLean, who scored his second goal in as many games on Monday, seems a perfect fit right where he is: on the Islanders’ reconfigured fourth line alongside Casey Cizikas. Those two will also start the season as a penalty-killing forward pair, a pretty seamless transition for Cizikas after having Cal Clutterbuck on his wing at five-on-five and the penalty kill for nearly a decade.
MacLean averaged 10:09 a game last season without any penalty-kill time. He should be up to the 12-to-13-minute range this season and, as with his steady rise through the organization after Lamoriello signed the undrafted MacLean in 2020, the 25-year-old has shown in camp he can handle whatever’s added to his plate. Lamoriello signed MacLean before hiring his father, John, as an assistant coach, though the connection certainly helped. You don’t always see those moves work out, but MacLean’s high-motor game and steadiness have come along at just the right time, with Clutterbuck gone.
If the Islanders were looking to free up cap space next summer, MacLean’s emergence helps there too. Cizikas could handle being the 3C and J-G Pageau, with a year left on his contract after this season, might be a more attractive trade chip than he was this past offseason. If MacLean keeps going this way, he could be an Islander for as long as he wants.
Engvall confounds another coach
Roy has the opposite problem with Pierre Engvall, who went through the scratches’ skills skate on Monday morning while every other regular forward played against the Flyers that night. The coach wouldn’t go negative on Engvall, but it was as close as Roy has come to calling out a player so far this camp.
“I think he’s had an OK camp,” Roy said. “He’s a minus-5. I’m not saying he’s playing badly, but I think he’s been trying to do things we are asking him to do. I have nothing negative to say about his play.”
Lane Lambert scratched Engvall twice last season before Lambert was fired. Roy scratched Engvall once, but the big winger earned plenty of praise for his work with Pageau and Anders Lee in the five-game series loss to Carolina — so much so that Roy immediately put that third line together at the start of camp and wanted to see it pick back up.
We’re nine days out from the opener, and it seems pretty clear that Roy hasn’t seen what he needed to. Lee and Pageau were with Simon Holmstrom on Monday, and Maxim Tsyplakov skated with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. Engvall appears to be in a battle with Julien Gauthier for a place in the opening-night lineup, though Gauthier was a mixed bag on Monday.
Engvall has six years left on his deal, including this season. No one’s trading for him. Lamoriello could make a drastic decision and put Engvall on waivers — no one’s claiming him either — to send him to Bridgeport, a move that would save $1.125 million of Engvall’s $3 million cap hit and possibly shake Engvall awake.
Or a demotion could have the opposite effect. Something has to change for the 28-year-old Engvall, who may end up learning what the phrase “Robidas Island” means to Lamoriello. As Leafs GM, Lamoriello was one of the first NHL executives to use long-term injured reserve on players who hadn’t retired but weren’t necessarily welcome on the roster. Veteran defenseman Stéphane Robidas couldn’t play but also didn’t retire, so he just kind of disappeared from the 2015-16 Leafs until his contract ended.
Engvall’s not hurt so he can’t just be banished and that’s probably too extreme for a player who, when motivated, helps the Islanders. But the Islanders need cap space and they need players who can contribute.
Stray observations
• Tsyplakov seems like a solid fit with this Islander team. He’s got a very no-nonsense game on the ice so far, and he’s very eager and cheerful off the ice. Roy and his coaching staff have been slowly adding responsibilities to the 25-year-old’s game and he’s adapted well; he even did a little Michelin Man impression in front of countryman Ivan Fedotov on Monday, making himself big to screen the Flyers goalie on Mathew Barzal’s power-play goal.
Tsyplakov seems like a better fit with Nelson and Palmieri than further down the lineup, but he didn’t look out of place with Gauthier and Frederik Karlstrom in prior preseason games either.
• Scott Mayfield looks as energized as he’s ever been coming off ankle surgery. A healthy Mayfield should help the penalty kill, but he’s been ranging deep into the offensive zone and creating, as he did with a nifty saucer pass to Palmieri for the game-winner in the final minute on Monday. The Islanders thrive on stability, and Mayfield’s injury in last season’s opener threw the D corps into chaos. Having him back at full health is bigger than we may realize.
• Gauthier displayed the full “Goat” range on Monday, making a nice play to force a turnover that led to MacLean’s goal while also taking a mindless offensive-zone penalty earlier. His skills are evident, but can he be focused enough to be an everyday fourth-liner? Hudson Fasching (lower body) is still working his way back and the other extra forwards still in camp — Liam Foudy, Karlstrom and Oliver Wahlstrom — seem to be behind Gauthier on the depth chart at the moment.
• Wahlstrom scored a nice power-play goal on Friday against the Devils, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough urgency there. Waivers seem almost certain for him this week or next; we’ll see if there are any takers.
(Photo of Marcus Högberg: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
