Islanders: Three lineups assuming Kyle Palmieri acquired by trade

The trade deadline is over a week away, with the New Jersey Devils keeping Kyle Palmieri off the ice for precautionary reasons, here are a few New York Islanders lineups if they land the winger.

At this point, it feels inevitable that the New York Islanders will trade for New Jersey Devils winger Kyle Palmieri. The Devils winger was kept off the ice for precautionary measures on Saturday and all eyes turned towards the Islanders.

No trade has been worked out just yet, but, again, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Palmieri is traded. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d look at a few lineup choices if the Islanders land the veteran winger.

On the Vet Line

Beauvillier-Barzal-Eberle
Bailey-Nelson-Palmieri
Komarov/Dal Colle-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Adding Palmieri restores some balance across the top six. Leo Komarov is taken off Mathew Barzal‘s line and placed on Pageau’s line (until Dal Colle returns). It’s the best spot of Leo who’s done about as well as we’d expect from him on the top line.

The trio of Beau-Barzal-Eberle has been excellent in limited ice-time this season. With the way Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal have been playing of late (separately) why not group together the two hottest hands on the team?

With the right-handed Palmieri, Bailey can move over to a more natural left-wing spot on Nelson’s line. The three veterans should prove to be an effective two-way line with some real punch having two 20+ goal scorers together in Nelson and Palmieri.

The bottom six stays pretty much intact. The only change is Leo taking Ross Johnston‘s spot on Pageau’s line.

All Righty Top Line

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

Barry Trotz likes stability. He doesn’t want to move too much around if he doesn’t have to. Specifically when it’s working. But if Lou was to bring in Kyle Palmieri, the veteran coach would be forced into at least one change. The easy move to make, one that has minimal impact on the roster is putting Palmieri on the top line with Barzal and Jordan Eberle while moving Leo down to line three.

That top-line now has three righties, which isn’t always great. Ideally, a lefty is on the left-wing so that they can receive passes on their strong side (and on an open stick and not on the backhand). But it’s not as if having three righties on a single line is the end of the world. Righties often play on the left.

A strong second line of Beau-Nelson-Bailey sticks together to be that strong two-way trio.  Over the last five games, the trio has combined for 15 points. Beauvillier has six, Bailey has five, and Brock has four. Why break them up?

Pageau and Wahlstrom have been quiet for a few games, but we all knew that was going to happen. At some point, the top six will have sorted itself out offensively and with that Trotz would rely less on Pageau and Wahlstrom to get things going offensively.

The duo is still strong away from the puck and doing all the “right things” so it’s not as if they’ve disappeared. With a strong top-six, it’s clear some of the defensive attention they’ve been receiving will no longer be there, which should open things up for them.