New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz believes in his team’s new-look top line that now features the trio of Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, and Kyle Palmieri. Last season, the combination atop for the Isles consisted of Lee, Barzal, and Jordan Eberle, but with Eberle now a member of the Seattle Kraken, that prompted Trotz to replace him in the right wing with Palmieri.
It’s a move that’s going to be put under the microscope early in the coming season by Islanders fans, but Trotz thinks opposing teams are going to have problems containing the rejigged line, per Joe Patorno.
Barry Trotz is expecting big things from a first line of Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, and Kyle Palmieri this season.
“I think it can be a handful. It has all of the elements.”
Eberle’s production will be missed by the Islanders, as they will have to seek other ways to source the 16 goals and 17 assists he provided the team last season. That’s not to mention that Eberle topped all Islanders with at least 100 TOI on even-strength situations with a 55.8 CF% and was third with a 64.86 GF%. However, Palmieri should be given a chance to show why Trotz is right in putting him alongside Lee and Barzal.
The Islanders were a win away from making it to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, as they fell in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals against eventual league champions, Tampa Bay Lightning. The Isles gave the Bolts lots of headaches with their physical play, and if that’s a quality they want to retain this season, the gritty Palmieri should be a perfect fit on the Islanders’ top line.
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