Islanders have plenty of players with plenty to prove right now
Head coach Patrick Roy of the Islanders looks on against the Rangers at UBS Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 in Elmont. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Uncertainty is the norm in professional sports, always has been, always will be. Injuries can and often do impact lineups on a daily basis. Trades always lurk. Minor-league prospects are always pushing for a spot in The Show. A veteran can be a healthy scratch. Even players on long-term mega-contracts can struggle.
Every practice, every game is a prove-it moment.
The point? The Islanders have a multitude of players with a lot to prove to coach Patrick Roy and president and general manager Lou Lamoriello.
Start with the team as a whole, which entered Monday night’s game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden just six days after their rivals ran them out of UBS Arena with a 5-1 win.
Two of the healthy scratches in that defeat — defenseman Scott Mayfield and bottom-six forward Hudson Fasching — were in Monday’s lineup. Smooth-skating forwards Anthony Duclair and Pierre Engvall — both expected to be key offensive contributors with healthy contracts — were out of the lineup as Roy dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
That included Russian rookie Maxim Tsyplakov, a healthy scratch in Saturday’s 7-4 win over the visiting Predators.
Meanwhile, there’s the uncertain status of pending unrestricted free agents Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri and the secrecy as to whether Lamoriello will be a buyer or a seller or will keep this group intact for a long-shot playoff push leading into Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
So Roy termed it a “good question” when he was asked if, as a coach, he likes having players with something to prove.
“My answer to this is we need everybody playing up to their level,” Roy said. “We’re not asking someone to be who he’s not.”
Roy added that this is a good stretch for players to prove something to him. The Islanders will face the NHL-leading Jets on Tuesday night at UBS Arena before starting a three-game California trip on Saturday night.
The natural follow-up question to Roy was this: Is he thinking that how his prove-it team performs against the Rangers and Jets could dictate which players make it to the West Coast?
The cleaned-up answer? No.
Most of that will-he-be-here? attention is on Nelson, No. 1 on most trade target projection boards.
He’s coming to the end of a six-year, $36 million deal signed on May 23, 2019. There have been contract extension talks but no indication that Nelson won’t make it to July 1 as a free agent for the first time.
“I’ve referenced the last time, six years ago, being in the same spot,” said Nelson, 33, who dressed for his 900th NHL game on Monday. “It was a little bit different because I think we were in a playoff spot and it’s just a little bit of a different conversation. For me, it’s just worrying about playing, and everything will take care of itself.
“I love playing here. I’m still playing here. So until someone tells me differently, I’m just worried about playing and making a difference in the games . . .
“Obviously, there’s a lot going on and everyone’s like, ‘Hey, the deadline is Friday. Let’s get an answer right now and decide.’ It may not work out that way. There’s a number of different situations that could play out in contract [talks]. It could be one that is left not done. You don’t have to have one by Friday. We’ll see how everything plays out.”
Mayfield might have been trade bait in the second season of a seven-year, $24.5 million deal if he didn’t have a full no-trade clause. So his biggest concern is trying to re-earn his full-time spot in the lineup after three games as a surprise healthy scratch.
“When you sit out, it stinks watching games and not being out with your teammates,” Mayfield said. “You do what you can to stay ready, and when you get the chance to go back in, that’s just where you’ve got to play your game. Don’t try to do too much. I know what I have to do out there.”
Engvall, in the second season of a seven-year, $21 million deal, has been in and out of the lineup all season because of inconsistent play. Duclair, signed to a four-year, $14 million deal to be a top-line wing, was a healthy scratch for the first time.
He has not fully recovered from a suspected groin issue that kept him out for 28 games from Oct. 22-Dec. 17. He was benched for 10 minutes in the third period against the Predators and has one goal and no assists in his last 11 games.
“The fact that he missed a lot of games, conditioning and all this. I think it’s good for him to practice and skate,” Roy said. “I told you we were not 100% happy with him.”
He, like so many others on the Islanders, has something to prove.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
