Exclusive: Casey Cizikas Talks ‘Tough’ Trade Rumors, Islanders Season

The New York Islanders practiced again on Wednesday afternoon in East Meadow. Head coach Patrick Roy focused the day on flow drills, with players constantly moving to get their legs under them.

For the first time out of the break, the Islanders ran lines. They looked quite familiar, but here’s them spread out:

Anders Lee – Bo Horvat – Anthony Duclair

Maxim Tsyplakov – (Brock Nelson Absent) – Kyle Palmieri

Casey Cizikas – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Simon Holmstrom

Pierre Engvall – Kyle MacLean – Marc Gatcomb

Alexander Romanov – Anthony DeAngelo

Scott Perunovich – Ryan Pulock

Adam Pelech – Scott Mayfield

Extras: Matt Martin, Hudson Fasching, Dennis Cholowski, Adam Boqvist

As a whole, there are no surprises. Roy specifically said not to read too much into the combinations, especially on defense.

After practice, Casey Cizikas spoke with me at some length about his season so far and the success of his line. Eventually, the chat morphed into an interesting view of the Trade Deadline season, with hints that change might be coming for the Islanders’ room.

Casey Cizikas One-on-One:

Interview Lightly Edited for Clarity

Q- This season, you’ve bounced around the lineup a bit and, in the beginning, struggled to find a rhythm with the early injuries. What’s changed since you’ve been with Pageau and Holmstrom, and how can you keep that momentum out of the break?

A- Just by doing the things that we’ve been focusing on since we’ve been put together. It starts with hard work, it’s out working that opposite line, whoever you’re out there against.  You take care of the puck, you make smart plays, and you try to make them come a full 200. I think that’s especially for our line; we create a lot off of the forecheck and getting up the ice quickly, so that’s something that we want to focus on and continue to do with that.

Q- This season, there’s been just for you kind of bouncing around positionally. Does that positional uncertainty ever affect how you play or others play?

A- It shouldn’t. You have the mindset of what you need to accomplish as an individual and what has gotten you to where you are today. That shouldn’t change depending on where you play. Obviously, as a winger, it’s a lot different than center, but it’s something that you have to practice. [You have to] Get used to it and be in those positions that are uncomfortable that you’re not used to. It can be tough at times, but that shouldn’t take away from the way that you have to play as an individual and what you’ve done to get yourself in the position you are today.

Cizikas Talks Trade Rumors Involving Teammates:

Q- This isn’t the type of room that thinks about it, but when there are talks of uncertainty in terms of Palmieri and Nelson… When you’re a leader on the team, how do you handle it? How does the team block out the noise?

A- Honestly, I don’t have social media anymore, so I have no idea what’s going on. I’ve heard from guys talking here, but it’s definitely not easy. There’s always talks around this time of the year about what’s going on and the uncertainty of that is definitely tough. But guys, especially the older guys, they’ve been around long enough to understand what has happened in the past and what transpires throughout this time of the year.

Cizikas paused for a moment and thought. Then he continued:

A- I don’t want to say [we all] become numb to it because obviously there’s certain guys being talked about more than others, but at the end of the day, some of us, it’s out of our control where we don’t really have a say. Some guys are in different positions that have no trade clauses or things like that, where they have more of a say in where they go. It’s definitely as tough this time of year because of how close our dressing room is and how close you get with one another. You never want to see somebody go, but at the end of the day, you have to understand that this is a business, and those things happen.

My Thoughts:

The interview speaks for itself. Cizikas is great to talk to and gives a really nice look into the room. He clearly seemed unhappy with his play early in the year. Now, he’s back to playing comfortably, and it helps that his line with Pageau and Holmstrom has been fantastic.

There has been plenty of speculation about the futures of Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, but nothing’s certain. With just 16 days until the deadline, the clock is ticking. The room, as voiced by Cizikas, isn’t focused on that. They’re focused on sticking together and winning games.