A lot of NY Islanders defensemen are playing a lot of minutes this season

The New York Islanders added three defensemen last week by signing Tony DeAngelo, trading for Scott Perunovich, and claiming Adam Boqvist. With Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock each expected to miss an extended period, all three will be relied on to play significant minutes leading into the February break and possibly beyond.

That means that as many as 12 defensemen (Dobson, Pulock, Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, Alexander Romanov, Mike Reilly, Isaiah George, Grant Hutton, Dennis Cholowski, and the three newcomers) are likely to play at least 150 minutes this season on the Isles' backend.

As Travis Flynn pointed out on X, this is an infrequent occurrence. The last time the team surprised 10 defensemen by reaching 150 minutes in a season was 2013-14. That team was led by Travis Hamonic and Andrew McDonald, who each averaged over 25 minutes TOI that season. Thomas Hickey was the only member of the blueline to skate in all 82 games, while younger defensemen such as Matt Donovan and Aaron Ness were asked to step in and log minutes throughout the year. Even rookie Scott Mayfield logged minutes that year, though he fell short of 100 minutes in his five games played. The 2013-14 team finished 34-37-11 (79 points) under Jack Capuano, last in the eight-team Metropolitan Division.

Having so many defensemen cycling in and out has created challenges with chemistry, but it has also allowed the Islanders to adapt to different opponents and situations. As the playoff race intensifies, head coach Patrick Roy will need to find the right balance between stability and flexibility on the back end. If the Islanders can settle into consistent pairings, their defensive depth could become one of their biggest strengths down the stretch.