New York Islanders: A Clearer Picture of Opening Night Lines

With new information coming out from the New York Islanders practice we are starting to see how the opening night line combinations, and possible roster cuts, take shape.

Two tweets tell a huge story for the New York Islanders opening night roster, and a lot of it is what we expected from Barry Trotz and team.

As the Islanders round out the training camp roster with 12 recent cuts, only 40 players remain. Only 23 can remain for the 2019-20 active roster. That means another 17 players must be cut.

So Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello still have some work to do in order to figure out what their starting roster is going to look like. But based on Thursday’s lines in practice we’re getting a good sense as to where Trotz and Lamoriello are headed.

Practice Lines

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have tipped their hand in the exact way they always do – without a word spoken. It’s so frustrating as a fan, but really it’s exactly how a well-run organization functions. What a pleasure it is to have such professionalism in the building.

• Line 1: Lee – Barzal – Eberle
• Line 2: Dal Colle – Nelson – Bailey
• Line 3: Beauvillier – Brassard – Komarov
• Line 4: Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck
• Line 5: Holmstrom – Wahlstrom – Ho-Sang
• Line 6: Johnston – Fritz – Kuhnhackl

I think what is telling here is that line six really is line five as far as roster spots go, meaning that those guys are the most likely to make the roster as known commodities.

Line five listed above is a fascinating peek into the young scoring talent the Isles possess. But those seem like less likely to secure roster positions as all need seasoning or maturity in one particular situation.

So if there are two roster spots, the early tell from Trotz and team is that it’ll be some duo between Johnston, Fritz, and Kuhnhackl (if I’m betting it’d be Johnston and Fritz).

We should know more soon, but the excitement is building as we are getting some leaks about how the opening night roster will take shape.