Eyes On Isles

New York Islanders Are Doing No Favors For Michael Dal Colle

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: Fifth overall pick Michael Dal Colle of the New York Islanders poses for a portrait during the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: Fifth overall pick Michael Dal Colle of the New York Islanders poses for a portrait during the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Michael Dal Colle played his first game of the season with the New York Islanders today and they decided not to do him any favors.

Today was the first time Michael Dal Colle played for the New York Islanders in nearly a calendar year. The former fifth overall pick from the 2014 draft class got off to a slow start in his professional career.

In his first full season in the AHL, he had 41 points in 75 games (15 goals, 26 assists) which is perfectly mediocre numbers for a top-five pick. He followed that up with just 24 points last year (7 goals, 17 assists) in atrocious fashion.

This year, was different. Dal Colle came flying out of the gate with 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists) in 14 games. For the first time in his pro career, he was a point per game player and his play yielded a call-up thanks to the Andrew Ladd injury.

In Michael Dal Colle’s fifth career game he didn’t record a point. He had one shot on goal in an otherwise quiet day.

It’s no secret, I’m not the biggest Dal Colle fan, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t give him the benefit of the doubt when he deserves it. Today, the Islanders did no favors by Michael Dal Colle.

First of all, MDC a former first-round pick was playing on the fourth line. If Garth Snow and Doug Weight were still in charge Islanders fans would be up in arms over it. Yet, since it’s Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello, two Stanley Cup-winning men, it’s relatively silent.

Despite both men having a pristine winning reputation the logic for playing Dal Colle on the fourth line is flawed. MDC projects as a top-six player, like Josh Ho-Sang and Kieffer Bellows, so why is he playing with Cal Clutterbuck and Stephen Gionta.

He only played 9:08 today, which was the lowest on the team by a mile. When you have Leo Komarov and Tom Kuhnhackl who both play wing, and who are both bottom six forwards why aren’t one of the two of them on the fourth line?

Instead, Tom Kuhnhackl who has 14 career goals in four years, got a chance to play on the second line with Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson. It doesn’t make any logical sense.

You can’t expect him to succeed by only allowing him to play nine minutes with the worst two forwards on the team as linemates. He should be with Brock and Eb’s, that way he has a shot to produce.

I love both Trotz and Lamoriello and I think they will have a great impact on this team long-term but you have to question the logic on this one.

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