Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
The day after the New York Islanders suffered a loss during their worst performance of the year, a 5-2 beating at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, general managerGarth Snowhas been active.
The Islanders first waived wingerColin McDonald, who appeared in only two games this season for the Isles. McDonald’s roster spot will likely be taken by forwardAnders Lee. It has been reported that Lee will make his season debut for the Isles tomorrow night in Boston against the Bruins. He has registered five points in five games for the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
That was not the only roster decision that was made by Snow on the day, as he returned one player from, and added one player to, the team’s injured reserve list. Snow recalled veteran defensemanLubomir Visnovskyfrom the IR and placed forwardMikhail Grabovskion the injured reserve list retroactive to October 16, making him eligible to return as early as Saturday’s game against the Stars. If Grabovski is to be recalled from the IR it will require the Islanders to make yet another roster decision.
These roster decisions by Snow do provide some questions for the Islander fan base. Who sits to make room for Visnovsky? When should we expect Grabovski to return? And where does Lee slot into the forward lines?
However, the biggest question is why did McDonald get the axe?Colin McDonaldis not a game changing player, and he, like the majority of his teammates, did not play very well last night, but he is far more useful at the NHL level thanEric Boulton, who has been a healthy scratch every game this season and will likely continue to be one for the foreseeable future. McDonald is not a prospect in need of ice time so keeping him relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch is not hurting the organization in the long term. I have no issue with the team deciding to bring upAnders Leewith Grabovski sidelined, as he is a more talented forward then either McDonald or Boulton, but McDonald was not the worst forward on the roster at the time of his release.
As for Lee’s role; he is not a fourth line player, so it is likely he was brought up to returnCal Clutterbuckback to the fourth line withCasey CizikasandMatt Martin, a unit that played well together for the first four games of the season. Lee may be employed on a line withRyan StromeandBrock Nelson, a trio that had some success together at the end of last season. When Grabovski returns to action the lines will receive yet another shakeup, as he is certainly one of the teams top 6 forwards.
Given that Grabovski was IR’d retroactive to the 16th, I imagine he will return to action on Saturday against the Stars at the Coliseum. His reutrn will likely signal the end of theCory Conacherexperiment on the first line. Promoting Lee to only play only one game would be a foolish move by Snow, so he is here to stay, for a while. Grabovski could slot in to Tavares’s flank oppositeKyle Okposoand provide the Isles with a formidable top line.
Which leave’s us with what to do on defense with Visnovsky returning. This one’s pretty straight forward. IfTravis Hamonicis still ailing from an injury sustained during Monday’s practice, Viz takes his place, if Hamonic is game ready, the veteran d-man will replaceBrian Straitas the team’s sixth defenseman. Strait has been the Isles weakest link on the back line this year.
Other Notes:
Thomas Hickeyskated today despite receiving stitches for a skate cut to the face suffered in last night’s game andCalvin de Haanwas not given any further punishment for a hit to the head of Toronto’sDavid Clarkson, both should be good to go for tomorrow night’s match-up with the Bruins
Add us as a preferred source onGoogleLoading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations