Islanders Practice Notebook: Dobson Participates; Nelson Good to Go

The New York Islanders held practice on Saturday morning inside Northwell Health Ice Center in front of fans. The practice was high energy and packed with zip and included a few notable pieces of news.

First, the biggest news of the day is Noah Dobson is good to go and fully participated in Saturday’s practice. The defenseman missed the last nine games and is on long-term injured reserve. He cannot play tomorrow due to LTIR rules mandating 10 games to be missed. However, his return can be penciled in for Tuesday’s game against the New York Rangers.

Elsewhere, Brock Nelson received a day off but met with the media after practice. He told Andrew Gross of Newsday that he would play against the Dallas Stars tomorrow and that he was good to go. Nelson’s name remains in trade talks around the league, but for now, he remains locked in with the Islanders.

Islanders Lines:

Lines Courtesy of Andrew Gross, Newsday

Anders Lee – Bo Horvat – Anthony Duclair

Maxim Tsyplakov – (Hudson Fasching placeholder for Nelson)- Kyle Palmieri

Casey Cizikas – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Simon Holmstrom

Pierre Engvall – Kyle MacLean – Marc Gatcomb

Defense & Goalies

Alexander Romanov – Anthony DeAngelo

Scott Perunovich – Ryan Pulock

Adam Pelech – Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin, Jakub Skarek

What Happens When Dobson Returns?

Clearly, tomorrow’s game is a big one. One of those six defensemen has to come out of the lineup unless coach Patrick Roy wants to play 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, but that feels unlikely. Likely, Scott Perunovich and Anthony DeAngelo are playing for the right to remain in the lineup.

Personally, I think the Islanders should take DeAngelo out of the lineup. He’s eaten up a ton of minutes, but his defensive woes have become a growing issue. Obviously, against Minnesota, he scores two own goals, but beyond that, analytically, he is much worse all-around than Perunovich.

Peurnovich has very good underlying numbers and passes the eye test. His IQ is evident every time he plays, as he finds amazing passes and shuts down opposition chances like it’s nothing. DeAngelo has more offensive upside, but on the power play, he’s provided nothing. According to Stefen Rosner, DeAngelo remained with PP1, while Dobson skated with PP2 today. That, to me, makes sense for now, with Dobson unable to play tomorrow night.

However, Dobson plays a better overall game and has a higher upside offensively. That won’t stick for long unless the power play takes over against the Stars.

Additionally, the Islanders must clear a roster spot to activate Dobson off of injured reserve. Currently, the roster is full. The most likely option is the team may opt to waive Adam Boqvist, knowing he likely gets claimed. However, with his potential, the team may waive Matt Martin or Hudson Fasching and send one down to Bridgeport, knowing both will easily clear waivers.

Nelson Good to Go:

The other main piece of news out of practice came from Nelson’s meeting with the media. He told them he was playing tomorrow and would return to his spot on line two. That’s great news for the Islanders because the fear is always an injury after such a hard-fought tournament like 4 Nations, but he’s ready to go.

Ilya Sorokin will start in the net on Sunday. The Islanders get the benefit of kicking their feet up while the Stars play a battle tonight in New Jersey, where Jake Oettinger is expected to start. The Islanders will likely face Casey DeSmith tomorrow evening.