The two-part answer to explain Islanders’ approach to fill key gap

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Islanders’ handling of the lineup spot formerly occupied by Alexander Romanov begs two questions. 

First, when does Isaiah George, who played 33 games with the Isles last season and looked in line to compete for a full-time job with the big club this season, get a chance on the left-side spot that none of Adam Boqvist, Travis Mitchell, Marshall Warren or Cole McWard have done enough to lock down for themselves? 

And second, will general manager Mathieu Darche look outside the organization at some point to fill the job? 

The first question can be explained in part by an injury-filled year for George, who got hurt right before Romanov suffered a shoulder injury and got hurt again right before the holidays. Darche said before Thursday’s loss to the Predators that George is likely to return from his current lower-body injury this weekend when AHL Bridgeport faces Springfield. So, if George stays healthy and plays well, there’s reason to think he will get a chance eventually. 

“It’s bad luck for him,” Darche said. “If he would’ve been healthy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would’ve had an opportunity also. It’s just that he’s been hurt. He’s supposed to play this weekend, so we’ll see where it goes.” 

McWard, a natural righty who has played on his off side for two of three games since being called up with the Islanders, has been adequate without doing much to distinguish himself from Mitchell or Warren.

His benching over the final 8:32 at Nashville on Thursday after struggling with turnovers doesn’t bode well, but it’s early to make any kind of judgment. There’s no reason to think he won’t stay in the lineup Saturday at Minnesota. 

When the Islanders got hit by an avalanche of injuries on the blue line last year, Lou Lamoriello was active in trying to patch holes from outside the organization.

He picked up Boqvist off waivers, signed Tony DeAngelo from Russia and traded for Scott Perunovich. A year prior, he grabbed Mike Reilly off the waiver wire and traded for Robert Bortuzzo. 

Darche hasn’t done the same, and the lack of staying power of most of the players listed above — DeAngelo, who was exiled from the NHL for reasons having little to do with his play, is an exception — gives part of the reason why.

The other part is philosophical: Darche has made a point of investing resources into Bridgeport, so it only makes sense that he would lean on the minors in a situation like this.

“You don’t want to make a knee-jerk reaction,” he said when asked about looking elsewhere for a replacement. “The reason you have a minor league system, and I strongly believe in the minor league system — maybe because I played too many games in that league — I believe in those guys getting opportunities. When I talk to [coach] Rocky [Thompson] in Bridgeport, ‘Alright, who plays well? Who deserves to be called up?’ We give them the opportunity. 

“And some of the guys we sent back, it’s not necessarily because they were playing poorly. It’s just, hey let’s try somebody else. A few guys deserved an opportunity and they gave us good minutes when they were here. Right now, it’s Cole McWard and he’s played well. We’ll see where it goes from here.” 

No one the Islanders have tried has looked overwhelmed or struggled badly, a good sign for their internal depth, if nothing else. Self-evidently, though, no one has forced the Isles to keep them in the lineup, either. 

Romanov, the victim of a vicious hit from Mikko Rantanen that ended his regular season and had the Islanders steaming for days afterward, is progressing well from right-shoulder surgery, and Darche said there’s a chance he could return for a playoff run.

That might play into the Islanders wanting to exhaust their internal options too. 

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The Russian hasn’t yet started skating on his own, though, and when Darche asked him recently to give him a “YMCA,” Romanov couldn’t get his shoulder high enough to do the Y. 

That is to say that the job is still very open for the time being.