Islanders Deadline Practice: No Pageau, Engvall Stays on Top

EAST MEADOW, NY — Despite the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline coming up at 3 PM ET, the New York Islanders were busy preparing for their Saturday matinee against the Detroit Red Wings.

Before practice, Simon Holmstrom, Hudson Fasching, Ross Johnston, and Parker Wotherspoon were warming up Ilya Sorokin and pending unrestricted free agent Semyon Varlamov.

Everyone was accounted for except the injured players which, includes Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Scott Mayfield was also on the ice, not that he wouldn’t be.

There’s no update on Pageau, other than that he is “getting closer.”

The Islanders ran lines immediately once the practice began, with one change from Thursday’s practice:

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Pierre Engvall
Zach Parise-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching
Simon Holmstrom-Otto Koivula-Josh Bailey

*Ross Johnston extra

Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Sorokin was in the starter’s crease and is expected to get the nod against the Red Wings.

The Islanders did their usual shooting drills but went into a controlled scrimmage. The focus was on structure.

Lambert then ran a controlled drill during the scrimmage, as he had one side make a quick pass and then a shot below the circles before the other side transitioned up the ice for a chance off the rush.

From there, a similar setup with the shot and then backcheck. However, the rush was going the other way was a three-on-two.

The focus was on structure, something that the Islanders have struggled with this season.

Then it was time for power-play work.

Here’s how the Islanders lined up:

#Isles PP units go to work:

PP1: Dobson-Nelson-Palmieri-Horvat-Lee
PP2: Aho-Pulock-Bailey-Koivula-Parise

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) March 3, 2023

The Islanders have not had a few days to practice in quite a bit, but it’s beneficial at this time of the season.

“It’s been good to get practice in and just sharpen up on a couple of things,” Hudson Fasching told NYI Hockey Now.  “And I think structure is always of the utmost importance, especially here and especially down the stretch. So yeah, I think it’s been really helpful.”

After the Red Wings, the Islanders face the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Washington Capitals as their road to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on.