Islanders Gameday News: Brock-less in San Jose
Godspeed, you. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
This is gonna be weird...it feels weird. Well...here we are. The trade deadline is over, and the Islanders march on without one of the most steady, durable and ultimately prolific performers of this generation of Islanders. The guys who were together for the better part of 10 years or even more, many having come up together from Bridgeport and/or started families on Long Island.
The Isles are in San Jose tonight, where the Sharks are continuing their teardown/rebuild.
The Isles are four points behind teams that are in wild card position and trying to stay there. This California trip will set a tone of whether they remain hopeful or descend into post-deadline malaise. (And can’t you just see the injury-saddled Devils plummeting out of the playoff picture and getting a lottery pick while the Isles sneak in for a first-round slaughter?)
It’s a 10 p.m. EST start, so you’re going to lose an hour right after this one’s over. First Islanders Goal picks go here.
Islanders News
“This is a case where the on-ice impact and the off-ice impact are almost identically important.” On Islanders Anxiety, Dan and Mike reflect on what it means and what it feels like to have another “uncle” head out the door. Even though it was long anticipated and logical, Nelson’s exit is jarring. [LHH]
Previewing tonight: “Everyone in this room is excited for the challenge. Now that the deadline’s behind us, this is the group we’re going to do it with. We’re excited,” says survivor Kyle Palmieri. [Isles]
But Casey Cizikas sums up the impact (same link): “He meant everything. He was the leader on off the ice. He gave he had everything he had every single night. He’s a guy that you could easily follow into battle and his personality inside the locker room was awesome. Nelson’s a tough guy to lose. He means a lot to this organization, he means a lot to us in this room. We’re wishing him nothing but the best.”
However, also Casey: “It was strictly business but at the end of the day we have guys in this dressing room right now that are going to have an opportunity to fill some big shoes, and those are opportunities that you want, those are opportunities that you want to take advantage of.” [THN]
“So moving forward, guys are going to be put in spots where they’re going to have a chance to succeed, and we just got to carry with that. We got to play as a whole, play as a group, because that’s our identity.
Adam Boqvist will step in for Scott Mayfield but here is how the forward lines look, per Andrew Gross of Newsday.
Neil Best: In the end, Lou is gonna Lou. He’s sticking with his guys as much as he can, and will look to augment rather than subtract. [Newsday]
Acquiring Calum Ritchie is an instant boost to their prospect pool though. (Great fodder for using to trade for established veterans, right?) [Post]
With rosters relaxed after the deadline, Mike Reilly and Matt Martin are activated off IR. No telling when Reilly will be ready though.
Marcus Hogberg is with the team and practicing, but not ready yet. [Isles]
Who are the Sharks?
#SJSharks morning skate lines, Gregor not here yet, working out immigration:Eklund-Wennberg-ToffoliKostin-Celebrini-SmithKovalenko-Dellandrea-GrafGrundstrom-Giles-GoodrowFerraro-MukhamadullinVlasic-LiljegrenThrun-Desharnais— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 8, 2025
Elsewhere
The deadline day still included some games, with the Red Wings, Devils and Penguins all losing handily in regulation.
Winners and losers from a fun, fun deadline. [Sportsnet]
A loser of sorts: Apparently the Oilers and Rantanen were talking about an extension, but Edmonton couldn’t meet Carolina’s asking price. [TSN]
Storylines for the rest of the season include wild card races, the Colorado-Dallas arms race, whether Carolina and New Jersey will falter, and apparently Alex Ovechkin is closing in on a record? I hadn’t heard about that. [NHL]
Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky doesn’t regret their big Mikko Rantanen swing (and in truth, they ended up recouping pretty well). [NHL]
More brutal news for the Devils as Dougie Hamilton will be out “for an extended time.” [TSN]
The Panthers are thrilled to have dirtbag Brad Marchand on board. Assuming he gets healthy. [NHL]
They’ll also be starting their new backup tonight, Vitek Vanecek. [NHL]
You don’t see No. 1 goalies move almost ever at the deadline, and Ryan Miller’s experience could be one reason why. [NHL]
Roberto Luongo put the pads back on for a Panthers practice. Ol’ greybeard. [NHL]
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