New York Islanders: 3 Players Likely To Regress In 2019-2020

By Matt O'Leary

Jul 16, 2019

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - MARCH 30: The New York Islanders celebrate a 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. With the win, the Islanders qualify for the league playoffs. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 30: Casey Cizikas #53 of the New York Islanders skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on November 30, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Islanders defeated the Penguins 5-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Casey Cizikas

Casey Cizikas was one of my favorite stories from the 2018-2019 season. A 20 goal season from the fourth line center is just unheard of. Before last year, he had a career-high of nine goals. He surpassed that before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve.

I’ve been adamant about making Cizikas the third line center, and I still think the Islanders should do it in order to improve that third line. Even with an expanded role, which I think he handles fine, I think he regresses in terms of goal scoring.

More than doubling your career-high in goals at age 27 is literally unheard of. I think in a third-line role he can give the Islanders something like 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) but in a fourth-line role he goes to maybe 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists).

You would still take that from Cizikas of course, but it’s going to be extremely difficult to replicate his 20 goals and 18 percent shooting percentage.