The New York Islanders brace for game-changing shift under Peter DeBoer. Can Mathew Schaefer and Ilya Sorokin thrive in a revamped system as the playoff chase heats up?
Host Gil Martin breaks down DeBoer’s early lineup decisions, including injury updates for Casey Cizikas and Tony DeAngelo, and examines the evolving forward and defense pairings. Key segments center on Schaefer’s adaptation to a more structured approach, Sorokin’s vital relationship with the new coach, and how veterans like Anders Lee and Bo Horvat fit into a “win-now” mentality. Listener mailbag questions probe GM Mathieu Darche’s roster strategy, the long-term future for Islanders prospects, and the impact of the coaching shakeup. With a crucial matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs looming, every decision could define the season’s endgame.
Are the Islanders set for a late surge, or are bigger changes on the horizon?
All this and more on today’s bonus episode of The Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.
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22 Comments
Darche sent Debour out with The Coast Goard SAR…. SOS Andria Gail…. Pan pan, pan pan, pan pan … 44 degrees North 58 degrees west…
Call up Viktor Eklund!!!! Palat is a joke.
Before the season began I told You Darche should have hired DeBoer. However, he should have let Roy finish the season. Roy exceeded my expectations and deserved to finish this season.
DeBoer will give them stability needless to say…would like to see the Isles make it to playoffs to give Schaefer and George playoff intensity experience
Thank god islanders win lottery to get Matthew shaeffer
Look for defenseman points all to go up especially on powerplay shaeffer goals total definitely going up
Sign Matthew to a10 year deal for $120 million
mmmmm… those murky middle waters taste good. y'all have been DUPED once again. it must be nice to be a hab or sj fan brimming with excitement knowing the future is bright. they have re-built their squads with elite and good young talent and will be powers for a while now. isles-lets just go old, hire recycled shit, and remain in those murky waters. oh well at least i saw those 4 cups. relegated myself long ago to the fact i will never see another one. this organization leave no fkn hope for that. y'all were DUPED once again by false promises of hope. i would have taken a few years out of the playoffs to do that. get elite. flames are doing it right. casucks will get an elite forward this draft. now isles are gonna miss playoffs for a second straight season and remain in the murky middle. oh well at least pens and sabres who will make the playoffs finally figured how to re-build themselves. isles can join wings missing the playoffs year after year as time is just about up on yzerman. wing fans aint happy these days. i know the feeling. 4 games left. do something right-lose all of them, get a mid first pick.
let's see how they play in playoffs
Eiserman shaeffer Eklund atchkinson future
Now move out anyone above age 33 for younger picks younger players
I'm just being honest
Your not winning a cup with the guys we have above age 30
Tank rest of season to get another high pick
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About time they moved Holmstrom up , You do not have a Guy who shoots 20% and not feed Him the puck plus He is defensively really good and can match up 2 way with the opponents 1st line wing
Hopefully they will finish the season strong, Cards have been dealt, have to play them now. LGI
Like cowbell we want more bonus Vids Gil keep up the good work buddy!! Fingers crossed the kid can get two more goals in the next 4 and break brian leetch’s record! LGI 97 pts let’s go boys!!
Get rid of all the over 30 old farts and let the young kids take over the team.
I'd take Foudy, Beckman and Eklund as my fourth line.
Great show as always. Gil it's all over but the crying… Start playing all the rookies from here on out
Totally agree on your take of the trade deadline. If you're picking up a player whose contract is up, that's one thing, but to have Palat for next year at $6m and to have Schenn for two more years at $6.5m.
Schenn I can live with, but would rather have traded off Lee and Pageau and then used the cap space to go out and get a guy like Robert Thomas, to have Horvat, Thomas, Ritchie and Cizikas (soon to be D. Nelson) down the middle, plus all the assets they could have acquired for letting go Lee and Pageau. I wouldn't hesitate from moving on from Pelech; especially the way he's playing. This would leave your left side being Schaefer, Romanov and George on your left side w/ Aitcheson on the way. You could then use the cap space to go out and pick up a RD.
Always take in the big picture.
it doesn't matter how this recycledx6 miracle worker coach deploys his lines. pouty will run into the same problems as roy who used many different deployments of units to little success because just like roy and others before him he lacks the horses up front d depth to succeed. eventually pouty will find this out and this tired old team will run aground on him and give up on pouty like they did on roy, trotz letting pouty take the fall. i guess darche can kid himself that this flawed roster about the miss the playoffs a second straight season a just a coaching problem, not a roster problem. gm naivity at its best.
lame wanted a more offensive approach and failed-why?
roy wanted a fast pressure attack with d awareness and failed.-why?
trotz knew one way and one way only-complete shut down hockey and it worked for 3 seasons. '19 playoff vs. pens, decisive games in '20 bubble vs. caps, flyers were textbook shutdown hockey. why? because players sold into it for 3 years before they tired of it. most on lt deals knew they were safe and could just scapegoat the coach out for failure. the louzer country club seed was sown.
As others have said you must develop your own talent to be successful. Stop signing has beens.
Does palat wear skates when he plays because the way he plays it doesn’t show it