Head coach Pete DeBoer shakes up the lineup, elevating the high-potential rookie alongside Cal Ritchie and Brayden Schenn to ignite a stagnant offense against New Jersey.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer has decided to promote rookie forward Victor Eklund into the top six ahead of their home opener against the New Jersey Devils.
Eklund, who played 9:25 at 5-on-5 alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau in their 2-1 season-opening loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, will skate alongside Cal Ritchie and Brayden Schenn.
DeBoer also moved free agent signing Matias Maccelli to the club's fourth line, Emil Heineman to the top line, and Anthony Duclair to the third line, all changes that he made in the third period on Wednesday.
"We're looking for chemistry on all our lines," DeBoer said on Friday when asked about playing Eklund with Ritchie. "We're looking to see what clicks. We're going to keep trying things until we get some combinations that we feel really good about. I don't like to flip lines around. But I think that's on the the line that's out there to to make it easy for me to keep them together. I don't think it's any secret we haven't scored a lot of 5-on-5 goals, even through exhibition. So we've got to find some combinations that work there."
The Islanders have scored three 5-on-5 goals through five games played since the start of training camp.
"All our forwards are in the same boat. We have to have four lines that can score. If you're playing on a line with Cizikas and Palat, that's still an offensive line. That's still a line that we need to score. You're still going to play. We don't play our fourth line six or seven minutes. They're going to play double-digit minutes. And I expect whoever you're out there with to tilt the ice. Hopefully, on nights, the Cizikas line is better than two of our other lines. I mean, they have that capability."
The Islanders host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 7:30 PM ET.
