Julien Gauthier makes his season debut on Saturday.
Julien Gauthier makes his season debut on Saturday.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy has decided to make his first lineup change of the season ahead of their Saturday night showdown against the Montreal Canadiens.
Julien Gauthier, who is in the final year of a two-year deal worth $787,500 annually, played in 27 games for the Islanders in 2023-24 with five goals and four assists.
“It's gonna be great. It seems like an eternity when you don't play, so it's gonna be really fun," Gauthier said following Saturday's morning skate. "I'm excited.
Roy wanted to make it clear that this move was about getting Gauthier a game, not Wahlstrom's play.
“Nothing major. We just feel like it's been like, what, four games?" Roy said. "We want everybody touching the ice, and I think it's good timing for him to go in. We feel like it's time for him to play a game.”
Saturday night will be Gauthier's first NHL game since Jan. 25, Roy's return to Montreal, which ended in a backbreaking 4-3 loss in the final minute.
So, it's been a bit since Gauthier played for New York, putting in a lot of hard work to earn the opportunity.
"I play hard every night. I try to do the best I can every day," Gauthier said. "When I wasn't playing, I skated a lot after practice. I don't think you saw after practice on the road, but I was doing a lot of workouts. I just tried to be ready to get an opportunity to go in and just go to make an impact and play well.”
The Islanders' fourth line has struggled offensively through the opening four games of the season, getting pinned in their zone pretty often.
Wahlstrom's not fitting in was a major contributor, but Kyle MacLean and Casey Cizikas also struggled to play to the best of their abilities.
Despite the rough underlying numbers, Roy still liked what he saw from the fourth line and reiterated that the move to Gauthier was about Gauthier getting a chance, not the line.
“It has nothing to do with [the fourth line's lack of production]," Roy said. "I thought our fourth line played really good hockey for us in Colorado -- same thing in Dallas and against the Blues. There's no specific reason [for the change]. I mean, Wally did a good job, and now it's time for Julien to go in.”
Gauthier, who played with Cizikas and MacLean in some of the preseason games, will bring speed that should help that line generate more rush chances.
“I think we had a good preseason, like a good camp together. I think we forechecked really hard," Gauthier said. "We created some opportunities a lot of times, so we just got to keep doing that tonight. I think we're going to come out hard and we’re gonna have a good game.”
After playing three games when Roy took over last season, Gauthier was sent to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, with Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello wanting Wahlstrom to get more of an opportunity.
Wahlstrom played nine games under Roy but was out of the lineup for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
Gauthier stayed in Bridgeport, scoring seven goals with three assists for 10 points in 17 games.
When the Islanders had to decide who to cut to become roster and cap-compliant after training camp, Lamoriello elected to keep Gauthier and Wahlstrom on the roster, placing forwards Pierre Engvall, Hudson Fasching, Liam Foudy, and Fredrik Karlstrom on waivers—they all passed through.
Now, Gauthier gets a chance to prove to Roy and Lamoriello that they made the right decision.