New York Islanders Four Players That Need Bounce Back Second Half

Adam Pelech

The New York Islanders hold the third best defense in the league in terms of goals against. They’ve gone from the absolute worst in 2017-18 to the top of the league a year later. With the exact same personnel on the blueline.

Everyone on the blue line has done their part to keep the puck out of their net. Most have done a great job at doing so, but Adam Pelech seems to be struggling in the first half of the season.

So much so, that when Thomas Hickey returns from injury, Pelech should make it to the scratchpad in favor of Devon Toews.

It’s not about points for Pelech. He’s never been a big point producer. His career high is 19 from last season.

For Pelech, it’s about positional awareness and gap control for Adam Pelech. He’s often caught out of position or too later to the play to narrow the gap on an attacker. It’s the small things that he does on the ice that make us sigh when the puck ends up in our net when he’s on the ice.

If he can’t correct it then he can easily take a spot next to Luca Sbisa in the press box during game nights and let Devon Toews take over.

Fortunately for Adam Pelech he’s got plenty of time to turn his game around. And if anyone can do it, it’s Barry Trotz. Again, the New York Islanders went from the worst defense to the best in the matter of months while swapping Calvin de Haan for Luca Sbisa. Pelech is in good hands.