The Overlooked Issue with the Islanders’ Defense

The off-season for the New York Islanders is likely over. The next wave of movement will be in training camp when the Islanders must make roster decisions. The team has exactly $0 in cap space. That much is certain. What’s less certain, however, is if the team is better.

The Islanders certainly upgraded their forwards, but the defense returns exactly the same. It would’ve been tough to change much of anything there, with Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock all locked in for the rest of the decade. Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, and Samuel Bolduc will all enter contract years that end with them as RFAs, while Mike Reilly will be a UFA again next July.

So, Who’s Still Here? Romanov’s Future?

So, the Islanders were backed into a corner by contracts and will run it back with the same defensive core they’ve had. Three members of the core have played in top-four roles since Barry Trotz took over. Dobson and Romanov are the future here, with some help left for Bolduc to eventually emerge and become a true member of the defense instead of the seventh man.

Mayfield returns after his injury-riddled season left him on the sidelines for half the season and the entire postseason. Even when he played, Mayfield looked like someone playing on one foot, lacking the strength that makes him effective. After surgery and a summer full of rest and rebuilding strength, he has to be better.

Pelech and Pulock had strong stretches last season, but injuries played a role, and both suffered for stretches as well. Their lack of health led to a severely ineffective penalty kill, especially with Mayfield on the shelf.

Romanov had a decent year, playing more minutes on average than ever before in his career. A very understated aspect of this season could be his future with the Islanders going forward. A strong year could earn him a contract, but if he has a down year, his future could lie elsewhere, with the Islanders unwilling to commit money to the RFA.

The Islanders largely shipped out Devon Toews due to his shaky play in the bubble playoffs, particularly against the Flyers, and the salary cap. The Islanders will again need to count every penny next summer, and Romanov could absolutely be a casualty of that.

Dobson is the best defenseman the Islanders have had in a very long time. He would likely have been a Norris Trophy Finalist without his late-season burnout and injury. Reilly and Bolduc are back. Reilly was a welcome addition, adding mobility and offense to a defense that, outside of Dobson, had no offense.

The issue lies within what’s underneath the surface.

The Issue: Health, Cap, and Depth.

If anyone gets hurt, Bolduc enters. If someone else gets hurt, the only guys currently on Bridgeport who could be called up are Dennis Cholowski or Grant Hutton.

Oh, and by the way, those call-ups would require either a temporary emergency call-up or the usage of LTIR because the Islanders have $0 in space. Due to the cap, we’ve seen teams play shorthanded in recent years. Don’t be surprised if this very thing happens to the Islanders.

It’s not a sustainable or smart plan. Of course, the easy answer is to sign players. But they can’t do that without money. The Islanders could utilize PTOs or pay players a premium to kick it in Bridgeport until their number gets called.  Each day, the options shrink. Oliver Kylington, who we named a fit last week, just signed in Colorado.

It’s a serious issue that just seems to be going unnoticed. As of August 6, the Islanders have absolutely zero contingency plan for a pair of minor injuries sustained in November. Nothing is finalized, but it’s an unbelievably important issue that’s remaining unaddressed.

Maybe the Islanders will get lucky with their health, and everyone will stay healthy. That’s certainly the best-case scenario. But in reality, that’s incredibly unlikely.