The Islanders will change up at least one element of their lineup on Friday against Vancouver after sending defenseman Travis Mitchell to AHL Bridgeport on Wednesday.
Mitchell, who went undrafted out of Cornell, had played nine of the last 10 games for the Isles on the third pair but the 26-year-old’s effectiveness has waned as of late.
He and Scott Mayfield spent much of Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Red Wings caved in their own end. Mitchell finished the night with an abysmal 18.6 expected goals percentage, per Evolving Hockey.
What was not made immediately clear is who will replace Mitchell in the lineup.
The Islanders didn’t announce a corresponding move on Wednesday, nor did they practice, but there would appear to be two possibilities.
The first would simply be to insert Adam Boqvist, who has been their seventh defenseman lately, back into the lineup.
That would give the Islanders another puck-moving defenseman at a time when they’ve struggled for offense, though Boqvist’s defensive liabilities have prevented him from being a lineup mainstay and may cause some hesitation in expanding his role.
The second would be to call someone up, likely either Isaiah George or Marshall Warren. (Given that the roster currently only has six defensemen, a call-up would figure to be likely even if Boqvist plays Friday).
George, who was passed by Warren for a call-up earlier this year, recently returned from an upper-body injury, playing in a pair of wins for Bridgeport over the weekend in Canada.
The 21-year-old played 33 games with the Islanders last season and impressed the organization with his poise and quick adaptation to the NHL game.
Warren, another undrafted player, played two games with the Isles in late October, scoring his first NHL goal against the Flyers, and accounted well for himself.
His game is more stay-at-home than George’s, though both would fall into that category.
Unlike Boqvist, both George and Warren are natural lefties.
Coach Patrick Roy has expressed hesitation about putting Boqvist on his off side after trying it a number of times without good results.
The Canucks, currently dead last in the NHL, have won five straight games on Long Island dating back to Nov. 13, 2018, per team statistician Eric Hornick.
The Isles face the last-place team in the East, Buffalo, on Saturday only 22 hours after facing Vancouver.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
