New York Islanders: Casey Cizikas Makes All Two-Way Forward Team

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)
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) /
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The NHL Network talked about the best two-way players in the game. Casey Cizikas made the list for two-way forwards.

Nobody expected Casey Cizikas to have the season that he did for the New York Islanders. He netted 20 goals beating out his previous career-high (9 goals) by January. Defensively, Cizikas was his usual self with the fourth line reunion of Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck.

Nationally, Cizikas usually doesn’t get a ton of attention but since we watch him every night we know how good he can be as an all-around player.

Yesterday, the NHL Network made lineup featuring the best two-way players in the league and Cizikas cracked Dave Reid’s list. Reid backs up his claim by talking about how hard Cizikas is to play against and that when the game is on the line, Zeeker is always out there.

It’s true. Whenever the Islanders need a big faceoff win or when the other team has their top line out there you know that Cizikas is going to be out on the ice. He’s a jack of all trades and it’s easy to see why he might get a bigger role in 2019-2020.

The Isles have a gaping hole at 3C right now, and Cizikas is the perfect candidate to fill it. Yes, that would break up the Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck line but at the end of the day the Isles aren’t using Casey to his fullest potential with him on the fourth line.

He can produce even more offensively if you put him with a Michael Dal Colle and Anthony Beauvillier who play a more offensive game. I’m glad Dave Reid put Cizikas on his list, it’s good to see him get some national attention.

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