Islanders' defensive depth gives Patrick Roy newfound flexibility

A sly, wry grin slowly creased its way across Patrick Roy’s face.

The Hall of Famer had just been asked about the Islanders’ defensive depth, and he could not hide his delight about the corps’ newfound flexibility.

“I will say this: It will be interesting,” Roy said after practice at Northwell Health Ice Center on Thursday morning when asked about the possibility of adapting the defense corps to counteract opponents. “We’re going to have to make some decisions and tough ones, but at the end of the day, it’s everything for the team, to make this team as good as possible and play some good hockey down the stretch. It’s got to be about who plays the best.”

Which is a good problem to have.

During Thursday’s practice, Roy had Alexander Romanov partnered with Tony DeAngelo on the first defense pairing. They were followed by Scott Perunovich and Ryan Pulock and the third duo of Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech. Dennis Cholowski and Adam Boqvist were the extras.

To summarize: Roy had two puck-movers (DeAngelo and Perunovich) with stout partners (Romanov and Pulock) on the first two pairs, a shutdown tandem with Mayfield and Pelech plus two spare defensemen during the brisk 35-minute session.

“Having depth is important,” said Mayfield, who was a full participant in Thursday’s practice. He had missed the Islanders’ last four games before the 4 Nations Face-Off pause with a lower-body injury.

“Who’s in what night is up to the coaches, but it’s a good little competition in here, and when guys were out, we had guys step up and we had some pretty good games in there, went on a little run. The more pieces, the better.”

Especially for a team that is about to begin a stretch of 27 games in 53 days. The Islanders (25-23-7, 57 points) are sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 12th in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Ottawa for the first wild-card spot and four points behind Detroit for the second and final berth.

“Looking at the last few years, especially as far as playoff teams go, eight, nine guys wind up playing,” DeAngelo said of teams who play their top blueliners more in the playoffs. “I don’t know why it is, but it’s starting to happen more and more, so I think it’s good to have depth.”

Variety, too.

With the likely return of Pulock to the lineup Sunday against the Stars at UBS Arena after he missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury, Roy should have three defensively conscious blueliners with Pelech and Romanov along with the more offensively oriented DeAngelo, Perunovich, Cholowski and Boqvist.

Of that foursome, it appears that DeAngelo has claimed a regular spot in the lineup. The Islanders are 5-3-0 with DeAngelo, and the native of Sewell, New Jersey, has one goal and three assists in an average of 25:11 per game in the eight games he has played since general manager Lou Lamoriello signed him out of the KHL on Jan. 24.

Plus, with Noah Dobson out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, DeAngelo has quarterbacked the first power-play unit. Although the man-up units are 1-for-15 in those eight games, the power play looks better and has generated 25 shots.

So yes, Roy has been pleased with the newcomers and their skill sets.

“Obviously they bring something different,” Roy said of DeAngelo, Perunovich and Boqvist. “They are good puck-movers [who are] skating well.”