When Islanders training camp opens, there will be spots to fill

The Islanders team that will assemble for training camp in a week will largely resemble the squad that reached the Eastern Conference finals in September.

But there still will be some mystery when it comes to constructing the 23-man roster (or fewer, for salary-cap considerations) that will open the 56-game regular season, delayed and truncated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Jan. 13.

President and general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz, both entering their third season with the organization, have some tough choices to make, and not all the result of the flat $81.5 million cap.

NHL teams can bring 36 players and an unlimited number of goalies to training camp, which will open next Sunday for the 24 teams that qualified for the postseason (the seven teams that missed the postseason and have been inactive since March 12 will be on the ice on Thursday).

The key losses from last season are defensemen Devon Toews (traded to the Avalanche for cap reasons) and Johnny Boychuk (unable to continue his career after an eye injury) and goalie Thomas Greiss (signed with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent).

So here’s a projected position-by-position breakdown of the Islanders’ upcoming camp:

Forwards

Locks (10): Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal (assuming a new deal for the restricted free agent), Anthony Beauvillier, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee, Matt Martin (assuming a new deal for the UFA), Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Coming to camp (13): Kieffer Bellows, Derick Brassard (assuming a new deal for the UFA), Austin Czarnik, Michael Dal Colle, Tanner Fritz, Simon Holmstrom, Josh Ho-Sang, Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula, Leo Komarov, Andrew Ladd, Dmytro Timashov (assuming a new deal for the RFA) and Oliver Wahlstrom.

Camp intrigue: Three of the four lines could be set, with Pageau’s third line still likely to be determined. Brassard is a strong candidate to skate with Pageau if he re-signs. But the real camp question is which, if any, of the prospects (and yes, Ho-Sang still counts as a prospect) potentially can crack the regular lineup. The Islanders need more scoring depth from their wings, and Wahlstrom, Bellows or perhaps Holmstrom or Ho-Sang could provide a solution. The newly acquired Timashov also is an interesting candidate for the bottom six.

Defensemen

Locks (six): Noah Dobson, Andy Greene (assuming a new deal for the UFA), Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock.

Coming to camp (seven): Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, Thomas Hickey, Grant Hutton, Mitch Vande Sompel, Bode Wilde and Parker Wotherspoon.

Camp intrigue: The loss of Toews and Boychuk hurts the organizational depth, but after Trotz brought Dobson along slowly as a 19-year-old rookie — he played 34 of the 68 regular-season games and one postseason game — the 12th overall pick in 2018 will be thrust into a full-time role. Dobson showed good chemistry with former Devils captain Greene, acquired 10 games before the season was paused. Leddy, without his longtime partner Boychuk, likely will partner with Mayfield.

Goalies

Locks (two): Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov

Coming to camp (two): Cory Schneider (assuming a deal for the UFA) and Jakub Skarek.

Camp intrigue: The biggest storyline of the Islanders’ training camp, and one that will continue through the season, is the development of Sorokin, the highly touted Russian prospect drafted in the third round in 2014 and finally in the organization after five KHL seasons. The expectations are sky-high, but the coaching staff may opt to bring him along cautiously. Schneider, the Devils’ former No. 1 goalie, is organizational insurance. A fifth goalie also might be brought to camp.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.