Islanders forward lines: 3 suggestions as fans wait for a trade

The New York Islanders have iced some odd lineups since Anders Lee was shut down for the season, here are a few options for Barry Trotz to try out.

With the loss of Anders Lee for the season and no replacement yet acquired by Lou Lamoriello, Barry Trotz is having to do some line tinkering to get the best out of his New York Islanders squad. And well, it hasn’t exactly gone well.

In Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Pens, Barry had Leo Komarov on line one, Ross Johnston on line three, and Matt Martin in his usual spot on the fourth line. While all three players have their particular set of skills that got them to the NHL, Barry isn’t using them in those roles any longer. And the results are borderline disastrous.

Here are a few lineup suggestions for Barry Trotz while he waits for Lou Lamoriello to bring in that top-six forward he needs.

1. He’s Ready

Bailey-Barzal-Wahlstrom
Beauvillier-Nelson-Eberle
Bellows-Pageau-Komarov
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

And by ‘he’ I’m clearly referring to Oliver Wahlstrom. With Bailey on the left side, the top line has its veteran leader and set-up man. Mathew Barzal can do his thing to open up lanes and space on the ice, while Wahlstrom just uses his God-given talent to get pucks on/in the net.

Line two continues to be a solid veteran line and a good secondary scoring line.

With Wahlstrom being effectively promoted to the top-six, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is given a new rookie to mold. Kieffer Bellows clearly hasn’t earned Trotz’s trust, but having him play with Pageau (as Wahlstrom did) could get him there pretty quickly.

The fourth line stays the same, of course.

2. Defensive Second Line

Beauvillier-Barzal-Eberle
Komarov-Nelson-Bailey
Czarnik-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Okay, maybe Barry Trotz isn’t ready to move Oliver Wahlstrom off of Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s wing just yet. So keep him on the third line and get Austin Czarnik out there with the two. That trio didn’t work so well in January, but with the confidence that Wahlstrom has gained over the last few months, there’s no way he abdicated the puck to Czarnik anymore.

Adding Komarov to Nelson and Bailey’s line effectively turns this into a pure shutdown line. To be fair, that’s basically what the Nelson line is right now anyways. But instead of having Beauvillier play a shutdown role, Leo Komarov steps in to take that from him.

Which frees up Anthony Beauvillier to link up with Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle. They haven’t played much this year (20:21 of 5on5 time), but the results are pretty darn good when they have (just to compare I’ve added how Barzal and Eberle are without Beau):

• 67.65 CF%  // without – 56.74%
• 72.45 xGF% // without – 62.91%
• 76.19 SCF% // without – 58.09%
• 87.50 HDCF% // without – 67.20%

(Stats from NaturalStatTrick)

That line has so much potential. It’s a shame that Barzal is forced to play with Leo Komarov most of the time instead of a more offensively skilled player like Beau. With the way things are going right now for Mathew Barzal and the Isles top-line in general, why not give the team’s top offensive talent more offensive talent to play with?

And again, the fourth line stays together.