Blue Line Blues: Life After Dobson

To put it mildly, the New York Islanders’ defense is a complete mess. We don’t know exactly what we have. Let’s try to put it together one piece at a time, as if we were putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

Alexander Romanov

Alexander has to take over this team. He is the number one defenceman and has to play like it. He has to share the load of the offense. If he doesn’t, then the New York Islanders are in trouble. Bottom line, he is the man.

Adam Pelech

If Adam can stay healthy, he can be a key cornerstone of the defense. He is a good, steady, defensive defenceman. Any kind of offence from him will be a bonus.

Tony DeAngelo

Tony is what he is. He is a solid number four defenceman with some upside on the offense. He will be an asset on the power play. Tony has to compensate for some of Dobson’s losses. He has to add his offensive numbers, but do not put all of it on his shoulders. That would not be fair to Tony and would put undue pressure on him.

Ryan Pulock

I’m going to be straightforward with Ryan. We need to have the Ryan who scored 10 goals. Someone has to pick up the pieces after the loss of Dobson. I am not saying that Ryan has to do it all. I’m saying that we could use some more offense from Ryan. Remember that hard shot that he had on the power play? Can we have some more of that, please?

Matthew Schaefer

I have discussed Matthew enough of late. If he stays, he will be the number one defenceman on the power play. I would let him stay for the first nine games of the season and then send him back to Juniors. This is where I previously discussed Matthew.

Adam Boqvist

Adam is what he is. Adam is a serviceable number five defenseman. He is solid, nothing flashy, he knows his role and does it. Adam’s strength is that he rarely gets caught out of position. He might not be as athletic as the other defenseman, but he won’t give you any unnecessary grief.

Scott Mayfield

Scott has to play with a chip on his shoulder and be more defensively responsible. He is more viable than people think; he is a solid number-six defenseman.

Final word

The loss of Dobson cannot be put on one defenceman. The offence must come by committee. Everyone has to pick up the slack. We’re not talking 30 or 40 points each, but maybe an improvement of five points each. Dobson will be missed, but Romanoff, DeAngelo, and Schaefer can make it up. If everyone does their share, the Islanders might not be as bad as people think.