NHL Trade Deadline: Islanders lineup after they stand pat

As noon approached on Monday’s trade deadline day, there were still a couple of high-profile names on the market. Kevin Hayes was sent to Winnipeg in the morning (and Gustav Nyquist to San Jose the night before), but Mark Stone had yet to move from Ottawa. Wayne Simmonds (no thanks, not at premium prices) was still on the market. A few other names “might” be available but likely would not move.

The Islanders were not part of any trades yet [UPDATE: Nor at all, as they stood pat], but their lines at Monday’s practice gave us a preview of how things might look if they do nothing else — nothing, that is, besides bringing Andrew Ladd and Thomas Hickey back into the fold after lengthy stays on IR.

By the weekend it had become clear that Ladd and Hickey, who both completed brief conditioning stints in AHL games and are clearly ready to play, were being kept on IR until the deadline when rosters would expand beyond the normal 23. In the interim, sending Michael Dal Colle to Bridgeport last week created one roster opening and some flexibility for possible trades and injuries.

The morning’s practice indicates they’re lineup and depth options will look like this down the stretch, with a bit of a forward line remix to start things off:

Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd - Mathew Barzal - Leo Komarov
Anthony Beauvillier - Valtteri Filppula - Josh Bailey
The Best Fourth Line in Hockey (TM)
(Tom Kuhnhackl)
((Ross Johnston))

Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
Thomas Hickey - Devon Toews
(Scott Mayfield)
((Luca Sbisa))
(((Dennis Seidenberg)))

Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
(Jeremy Smith) no doubt will be in Bridgeport, but now has an NHL contract to be available

In addition to bumping Tom Kuhnhackl back out of the lineup — he’d been playing where Dal Colle was previously, to frustrating results — there may be a renewed rotation among the defensemen.

The good news is this makes Toews look like a fixture. His impact has been significant since getting a recall and finally starting his NHL career. Ladd, if healthy, should also be a major upgrade over Kuhnhackl.

Overall, if no outside additions are made, this will be roughly the optimal lineup available to the Islanders through most of this season, one where they have {knock on wood} been pretty fortunate in the health department.

Outside of the seventh blueliner, however, it does mean a pretty thin pool of depth if injuries do strike again.

This post has been updated to affirm that the Islanders, indeed, did nothing.