Three suggestions that just might help the Islanders win

Change the system (for now)

The New York Islanders have done a lot of winning in the Barry Trotz system. Before the 2021-22 season began the Isles - in the three years with Barry at the helm - have the tenth best record in the NHL for points. It's a good system. It works.

But when injuries mount the system can't operate as intended. And if we learned anything from 2019-20 when the Isles lost members of the fourth for most of the year, it's that Barry was going to double down on the system if he was in a similar situation:

"“There’s times when I said, ‘OK, we’re going to have to play this way a little differently because we didn’t have that line,’ ” Trotz said. “Maybe we should have just tightened it up and even did more of what we did well, versus trying to change it. As you’re trying to change it a little bit, you’re not as tight in some areas."

- Barry Trotz to Newsday

And that's seems to be what he's doing now. And I get it. Leaving the system means leaving a certain comfort, but with eight games lost and eight guys still out for the next while it's time to try something different.