Islanders three players that need to step up, today

Derick Brassard

He was supposed to be Valtteri Filppula 2.0. He was supposed to not only anchor the third line but give the Islanders some much-needed help on the power play.

We all know that Derick Brassard hasn’t been able to anchor that third line. His inability to be a driving force on what should be the Islanders “do-a-bit-of-everything” line has been well documented so far.

The only stretch in which we saw why Lou Lamoriello signed Derick Brassard this summer was a twelve-game sample between the end of October and the middle of November. In those 12 games, Brassard scored an incredible six goals and 15 points. That’s effectively half of his production this season through 20 percent of his season.

He was hot, and then he very much was not.

Brassard doesn’t need to be that over a point-per-game player once again (although that would be nice) but he needs to be present. Since that incredible production, we’ve barely seen Brassard be a force for good for the Islanders. Aside from the first few games of Kieffer Bellows‘s introduction to the NHL.

That shouldn’t be how it goes. The rookie shouldn’t be breathing new life into a veteran on an expiring contract. The vet should be showing the rookie how he needs to handle himself in the league.

Ideally, that changes for Brassard.

For the Islanders to be successful, they need to be able to run four lines with near-identical usage. The Isles can’t operate unless they roll four lines, and without Brassard playing to his potential they can’t do that.

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Now, with that being said, Brassard took a redirected Ryan Pulock slap shot to the head against the Colorado Avalanche and did not finish the game. Hopefully, it’s nothing major and he’ll be back ASAP.