Islanders: Who are their stars in waiting Barry Trotz mentioned?

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 08: Noah Dobson #8 of the New York Islanders leads the team out for warm-ups prior to playing in his first NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers at NYCB’s LIVE Nassau Coliseum on October 08, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. As part of the rookie initiation, the rest of the team gives the player a few laps before they join him. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Looking at the New York Islanders system who could be those future stars in waiting that Barry Trotz mentioned in an interview with Sportsnet?

Speaking to Sportsnet on Thursday, New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz spoke about how coaching star players makes his job easier. In saying that he also stated that the Isles may not be rich in talent now, but there are some players on the way that could be stars.

I don’t have access to the wealth of internal data or scouting information that Barry Trotz has at his disposal, but based on what I’ve seen or what we’ve been told about some of the players in the Islanders system I’m confident I could nail it down to three players.

Just to be clear, I’m not going to talk about any player that is an already established star like Mathew Barzal. This is about stars that are on their way up. Again, this is what Barry said:

I have the situation going with Mathew Barzal who is a star, and we’ve got a couple of other players that can be stars down the road.

He’s not talking about established players like Brock Nelson or even Anthony Beauvillier who is now in his fourth year in the NHL. We’re talking about players that are either in their rookie year in the NHL or are a step or two away from getting to the NHL.

With that in mind, there are three clear choices for future stars within the New York Islanders roster and system.

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 08: Noah Dobson #8 of the New York Islanders controls the puck during his first NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers at the NYCB’s LIVE Nassau Coliseum on October 08, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Noah Dobson | Defense

We know very well that Noah Dobson is a talented individual. Through 186 games between the Acadie-Bathurst Titans and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, he amassed 147 points, two QMJHL trophies, a QMJHL Playoff MVP trophy, and two Memorial Cups.

He’s already made his jump to the NHL from junior. The Islanders have played 68 games this season and Noah Dobson has played in 34 of them, scoring seven points.

He might be on the roster, but Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello have been hesitant in throwing the defenseman, drafted 12th overall in 2018 to the wolves. They feel like a slower course is the wisest for Dobson to grow his confidence before taking the step forward in the NHL.

It’s hard to argue with Trotz on this one. Here’s the list of rookie defensemen that Trotz has turned into star blueliners in the NHL:

Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Seth Jones, Roman Josi, and Ryan Ellis.

Of those five defensemen, Ryan Ellis is the only one not to finish in the top five in voting for the Norris Trophy. Barry knows what he’s doing when it comes to defensemen.

Dobson hasn’t been perfect in his NHL debut, but at only 20-years-old (he just turned 20 in January) he’s clearly got the skill to excel at this level. He’s got some tactical lessons to learn, but with Barry Trotz behind the bench, you know it won’t take long for Dobson to pick that up quickly.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – JANUARY 21: Ilya Sorokin #90 of the CSKA looks on during the game against the SKA Saint Petersburg at the Arena CSKA Moscow on January 21, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Anna Sergeeva/ Getty Images) /

Ilya Sorokin | Goaltender

He’s without question the best goalie not currently playing in the NHL. He still isn’t signed to a deal with the Islanders, so perhaps this is a little premature, but Islanders fans have received assurances from Lou Lamoriello that Ilya Sorokin will be here in 2020.

Question from Dennis Anninos: What is the status of Ilya Sorokin and are there discussions to bring him to Long Island? Yes, we have every indication that he will be here for next season.

Through 244 regular-season KHL games, Sorokin has averaged a 1.70 GAA and 0.930 SV%. In the playoffs, where Sorokin won the 2019 playoff MVP as well as the Gagarin Cup with CSKA Moscow, he’s averaged a 1.37GAA and 0.940SV%.

He was also voted as the KHL’s goalie of the year in 2015 and helped the “Olympic Athletes of Russia” win a gold medal in the 2018 winter games.

Sorokin is clearly an incredible player and he hasn’t yet reached the NHL. Playing for Barry Trotz and Mitch Korn should easily help him turn into that top tier starter we all think he can be again.

Here’s a list of goalie that Mitch Korn has worked with over his career:

Dominik Hasek, Tomas Vokoun, Pekka Rinne, and Braden Holtby.

Together they have eight Vezina trophies. (Although Hasek accounts for 75 percent of that with his incredible six Vezina trophies.)

Vokoun is the only one not to win a Vezina trophy, though the Czech goalie finished fourth in voting back in 2005-06 when he held a 36-18-7 record and averaged a 0.919SV% and 2.67GAA.

Mitch Korn and goalie coach Piero Greco have already proven they can get results. Just look at how Robin Lehner, Thomas Greiss, and Semyon Varlamov had demonstrable improvements in their play under the tutelage of Korn and Greco.

With Sorokin’s innate talent, Korn and Greco’s lessons, and Barry Trotz’s defensive system, there’s no doubt Sorokin is a star in waiting.

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: Oliver Wahlstrom #26 of the New York Islanders skates in his first NHL game against the St. Louis Blues at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on October 14, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Oliver Wahlstrom | Right-Wing

The Islanders drafted Oliver Wahlstrom eleventh overall in 2018 for a reason. Wahlstrom has a remarkable talent for finding the back of the net.

At 19-years-old he already possesses an NHL level release and a sense of where to be in order to create scoring opportunities.

While he may not have put up a point with the Islanders in a nine-game stint at the start of the 2019-20 season, we all saw his potential. We saw him ring the crossbar against the Blue Jackets and then there was this near highlight-reel effort against the Winnipeg Jets.

The start to his first professional season in the AHL was slow, but as the year went on Wahlstrom started putting up points on a more consistent basis for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Through 44 games with Bridgeport, Wahlstrom has 22 points. But over his last ten games, before the AHL season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wahlstrom put up four goals and three helpers for seven points.

He’ll probably play the entirety of the 2020-21 season with Bridgeport before making the jump to the NHL full-time in 2021-22. (Maybe with injuries he gets a call up here and there.) But when he does make the jump to the NHL full-time, lookout.

Next. Three worst calls against Isles in 2019-20

Wahlstrom is incredibly skilled with the puck and has been since he was a child. Having the tactical side of the game drilled into him for a few years under the umbrella of the Islanders should give him the missing edge to find a spot in Barry Trotz’s system. Once there watch him excel and become a star.

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