Three takeaways as the Islanders begin their regular season
Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders cools off during the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at UBS Arena on April 17. Credit: Jim McIsaac
1. It’s Patrick Roy’s team.
The coach, entering his first full season with the Islanders, has gone out of his way several times to emphasize president/general manager Lou Lamoriello constructs the roster and he just works with what he has.
“My job is to prepare the team,” Roy said. “Lou will decide who’s going to stay on our team. That’s his job.”
But make no mistake, the decision to place presumed top-six wing Pierre Engvall on waivers and reassign him to the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport after just one season of his seven-year, $21 million deal had a lot to do with Roy’s determination that Engvall was not up to the standards Roy was setting. Lamoriello signed Engvall to that lengthy deal after trading for him from the Maple Leafs, where he also worked with Engvall as that team’s GM.
Roy also stood out as the face of the franchise at Sunday’s open practice at UBS Arena in addressing the crowd to thank the fans and insist, “The connection is important,” to a rousing ovation.
2. The power play might actually be good.
It’s foolhardy to get too excited about preseason games but the power play did finish up a strong 6-for-14 (42.9%) over the last three matches at home. Last season, the Islanders ranked 19th at 20.4%.
Roy’s objective with assistant coach John MacLean was to craft two equal man-advantage units and split the two-minute power plays evenly. Defenseman Noah Dobson is quarterbacking one unit with Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat and Russian import Max Tsyplakov at the net. The other unit features defenseman Mike Reilly up top with Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson, Oliver Wahlstrom and Anders Lee at the net.
“There’s good guys on both units,” Reilly said. “A guy like Brock Nelson, Palmieri, two guys that can put the puck in the net and a guy like Anders in front of the net. When there’s a lane, I can shoot it and get it to the net. If not, I can kick it out to the flanks.”
3. Ilya Sorokin is good to go.
The franchise goalie, starting the first season of an eight-year, $66 million deal, needed offseason back surgery and did not practice with the team until the day before the final preseason match, meaning he’ll go into the regular season without a minute of preseason action.
But the important thing is Sorokin will dress for Thursday night’s season opener against visiting Utah, though Semyon Varlamov will almost certainly get the start. The organization’s third goalie, Marcus Hogberg, cleared waivers on Monday and was reassigned to Bridgeport.
Sorokin moved with ease and showed his side-to-side speed and athleticism once he started practicing with the team so there seems to be no lingering back issues.
Sorokin, 29, said this was the first time his offseason workout routine had to be altered.
“It’s interesting because I talked to a lot of guys who had the same problem,” Sorokin said. “They said, ‘Just do the right things and it’s possible.’ ”
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.
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