Islanders still trying to figure out how to replace injured defenseman Alexander Romanov
Islanders' Marshall Warren skates during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 25. Credit: AP/Derik Hamilton
General manager Mathieu Darche took another spin of the Islanders’ wheel of defensemen.
It landed again on Laurel Hollow’s Marshall Warren, who was recalled on Thursday from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport for a third NHL tenure this season. Travis Mitchell, a rookie like Warren but two years older at 26, was reassigned to Bridgeport on Wednesday after scoring one goal in nine games (avoiding his 10th NHL game and the loss of his waiver-exempt status for such reassignments).
But it will be Adam Boqvist who draws back into the lineup for Friday night’s game against the Western Conference-worst Canucks at UBS Arena, with the righthander again playing on his off-side paired with fellow righty Scott Mayfield.
The point is, Darche and coach Patrick Roy are still trying to figure out how to replace Alexander Romanov, out for the season with an injured right shoulder. Perhaps the GM’s best option ultimately will be to look outside the organization for defense depth.
“We’ve just tried different things,” Roy said after a rare practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. “Since the start of the year, we said we’re going to try different things with our lines. We do the same with our [defensemen]. Losing Romy, it was a big loss for us. Boqvy started playing on the left side. We were not sure if it was a good fit for him. That’s why we tried Mitchell there and I thought he played really well. We saw what Warren could do as well.
“We’re going to try different things and that’s how it’s going to be all year.”
So maybe Warren will play his third NHL game on Saturday in Buffalo against the Eastern Conference-worst Sabres, though given Boqvist’s average ice time of 12:41 in his 11 games, it’s unlikely he’ll have tired legs for the back-to-back.
At some point, Isaiah George, a 21-year-old fourth-rounder in 2022 who played 33 games for the Islanders last season, figures to get another chance as he works his way back from an injury.
Boqvist, 25, the eighth overall pick in 2018 by Chicago who was claimed off waivers from the Panthers last season, has stopped trying to figure out management’s thinking.
He just wants to play.
“I feel like the more I think [about it], the crazier I get,” Boqvist told Newsday. “I can only control what I can control, and that’s being a good teammate, being a good friend and a positive guy. When I get the chance to play, I do what they tell me to do and you go from there.
“It’s obviously frustrating when you see you’re not in the lineup and someone else gets called up. So it’s frustrating, but I’m just trying to stay positive. We’re winning hockey games; that’s all that matters.”
Boqvist, an offensive-minded defenseman who can quarterback a power play but doesn’t get that chance with the Islanders, who have Matthew Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo, has one assist this season.
Warren, in his third season in the organization after four seasons at Boston College and an additional collegiate season at Michigan, has two assists in two games but has not dressed for the Islanders since Oct. 28.
“I think I had a good start this season in Bridgeport and then the first time I was up here, I had a good showing,” said Warren, who has three goals and nine assists in 17 AHL games. “The big thing for me is just do the little things right. A lot of details.”
Like Boqvist, Warren doesn’t try to play GM and anticipate the Islanders’ moves.
“It’s the name of the game, professional sports in general,” he said. “I see it a different way. It’s a blessing to play hockey for a living. Obviously, you’re competitive and you want to be where the best guys are. But you’ve got to learn every single day. I learn a lot every day when I’m in Bridgeport. I learn a lot every day I’m here.”
It’s a mature attitude, and the correct one.
Because, almost certainly, Darche will spin the Islanders’ wheel of defensemen again.
Notes & quotes: Roy said goalie Ilya Sorokin will start against the Canucks and David Rittich will face the Sabres . . . Bo Horvat (left leg/ankle) will miss his third game and Roy said no decision has been made yet whether the center will travel to Buffalo.
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.
