According to Barry Trotz, Oliver Wahlstrom is “probably doubtful” for Saturday night’s Round 2 opener against the Bruins in Boston, which, interpreting the Islanders coach’s language, means that Travis Zajac will remain in the lineup on the unit with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri.
The overarching question is what would happen when Wahlstrom, who suffered a leg injury in the third period of the Game 5 of the opening round in a collision with Pittsburgh’s Mike Matheson, is healthy enough to play?
Would the 20-year-old freshman winger, who recorded 12 goals in 44 regular-season games before getting one in the first round, automatically return to his post or could the 35-year-old Zajac, scratched from three of the final seven regular-season contests and the first five of the tournament, earn a permanent spot?
“I’m a big believer in a player [not] losing his spot during an injury, for sure,” Trotz said following Friday’s practice. “But that comes with a little bit of a caveat, too, in that if a player has been there for a long, long time and he gets injured, you really don’t lose it, but if a player has been there for 20 games and has done a good job, I don’t think that holds as much weight.
“But when you’re talking about Wahlstrom, he’s a unique player for us. He’s a player we need in our lineup for a number of different reasons, [including] his size, his ability to score, and the power play. And Travis brings an element of experience. He’s quietly competitive and very detailed, so he brings a little different element to it.”
Zajac, of course, came to the Island at the deadline from the Devils, with Palmieri, for a package featuring the Islanders’ 2021 first-rounder after Zajac waived his no-trade clause. He had an assist in 11:55 of ice time in the Game 6 clincher against the Penguins with a clean faceoff win against Evgeni Malkin that led directly to Ryan Pulock’s tie-breaking and game-winning goal midway through the second period.
“It’s a little bit of a mix-and-match [between Wahlstrom and Zajac],” Trotz said. “But, you know, Travis can earn his way into someone else’s spot, as well.”
Ilya Sorokin, who was likely the difference in the first round in going 4-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average and .943 save percentage, started just once while making one relief appearance during the eight-game season series against Boston, going 0-1-1/2.23/.921.
The 25-year-old would seem the obvious choice to get the Game 1 assignment, but the veteran Semyon Varlamov, who was 0-2/3.61/.903 against Pittsburgh, went 5-1/1.93/.943 in seven starts against the B’s during the regular season.
And with Trotz, of course, there is really no telling.
Trotz reiterated that Anders Lee, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL sustained by the captain on March 11, is done for the year.
“Same timetable,” said the coach. “You will not see him in the playoffs this year.”
Coming off a first round in which he had three goals and three assists, Josh Bailey is ninth in playoff scoring since 2019 with 32 points (9-23) in 36 games. He is seventh in assists and 12th in points-per-game at 0.89 among players with at least 25 games.
“I think he is a veteran player of high IQ and high skill level who elevates in the playoffs,” Trotz said of the winger who has been an Islander since 2008-09 and is New York’s longest-tenured pro athlete. “I see Bails is a little more edgy during the playoffs than he is maybe in the regular season.
“Maybe that’s just the grind of playing a lot of games in the league, but playoff-time he steps up, he understands the magnitude of every game. Those good players have that ability to raise their game and he does that in a very quiet way.”
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