Islanders: Three forward lineups for Barry Trotz to try

After the latest loss, the New York Islanders will be making a change to their forward group. We don’t know how the Isles will lineup, but here are a few ideas for them.

Barry Trotz says he’s going to make changes to his lineup after the New York Islanders most recent loss. With only the top line giving the Islanders something you’d expect Trotz to tinker with his bottom three lines for Thursday’s game.

Here are a few ideas for Trotz to use in the Isles next game against the Caps. They range from: “hopeful but unlikely” to “some sort of hybrid”, and finally “the likely outcome”.

First: Hopeful But Unlikely

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Having three players off the taxi squad in Oliver Wahlstrom, Kieffer Bellows and Dmytro Timashov doesn’t sound like something Barry Trotz would do. But it’s exactly what Trotz should do.

For the bottom six, Trotz has run through Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, and Leo Komarov so far this season and it hasn’t worked. Like at all.

The Islanders roster needs a bit more pop offensively, they’ve needed that for years now. Flipping through Dal Colle, Johnston and Komarov is not what you would call “adding ‘pop’ offensively”. The three have combined for 65 points over 268 games in the last three seasons (62% of that production comes from Leo).

That’s a 0.24 points per game. Combined.

Bellows has shown he can play in the Islanders system, even if that’s only for ten to eleven minutes a night. The first-round pick in 2016 can add offense but also play a decent enough defensive game.

Timashov brings a bit of skill as a slightly above average replacement-level player. He’s not Ross Johnston, but the Islanders already have Matt Martin in the lineup so Johnston’s services shouldn’t be required.

The final piece is Oliver Wahlstrom in a top-six role alongside Nelson and Bailey. The right-handed “world-class shot” should be put in a position where he can use his God-given talents surrounded by vets who will guide him.

Chances Barry opts for this lineup: 1/10