After just four training camp days and one preseason game, here's how we think the New York Islanders line up on Oct. 10 for their season opener.

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The New York Islanders have only had four days of training camp and played just one preseason game, so projecting a starting lineup for Oct. 10 seems a bit ridiculous.

But given what we've seen so far, we have a better guess at a potential opening-night team than we did back in the offseason. 

Let's go through line by line and break things down. 

DUCLAIR-HORVAT-BARZAL

The Islanders' new top line should be the most dynamic it's been in quite some time. 

Mathew Barzal getting Bo Horvat on his line seems to have already been a career-altering move. 

Horvat is a goal-scoring threat, which allowed Barzal more opportunities to shoot, and, as we saw last season, the more he shot, the more confidence he gained, potting a career-high 23. 

Now add the speedy and shifty Anthony Duclair into the mix. 

Duclair's speed attracts opponents' attention when his skates hit the ice, which provides more opportunities for his linemates and vice versa.

This doesn't mean that this threesome will have three 30-goal scorers, but it's a three-player threat, something that Barzal hasn't honestly had in his eight-year career. 

HOLMSTROM-NELSON-PALMIERI

Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri have been a match made in heaven ever since Palmieri returned from his second concussion in January of 2023.

The problem has been finding a winger to play with them. 

At first, Pierre Engvall played well with those two, but after hot streaks and then a rather long cold streak, Engvall found a home with Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau on the third line.

The belief was that Maxim Tsyplakov could slide right in there. 

While that may be the plan at some point this season, it doesn't seem the plan right now, as Simon Holmstrom has been stapled to Nelson and Palmieri since training camp opened.

Holmstrom's problem through his first two NHL seasons has been the lack of confidence in his shot. 

But he seems to have found some added confidence this summer, and it's also positively affected his defensive play—the reason he is on the NHL roster.

Nelson has taken steps back defensively over the last few years — scoring 30-plus goals to offset that—so it will help to have Holmstrom and Palmieri, an underrated defensive forward, in those wing spots. 

LEE-PAGEAU-ENGVALL

This is the one Islanders' line from last season that is likely to stay the same as the season begins. 

They were the Islanders' best line in the playoffs — Kyle MacLean was the best overall player — and a bottom-six role seems to be best for Anders Lee at this stage of his career. Engvall will help this line transition. 

Pageau should benefit tremendously as this could be the first year he has stable linemates since joining the team in 2020. 

Side note: Engvall's shots so far at training camp have not only been accurate, but he's sniping a lot more than we saw last year, and he was using his body a tad more. Just something to keep in mind

MACLEAN-CIZIKAS-TSYPLAKOV

Let's start with the elephant in the room.

Yes, the guy we all had pinned as the starting left winger, Tsyplakov, starting the season on the "fourth" line seems crazy.

However, for a player who still needs to get accustomed to the NHL, having him play a simple North-South game could really benefit him. 

He's a physical guy who is very creative and knows how to protect the puck.

Alongside the speedy but skilled Casey Cizikas and workhouse Kyle MacLean, there's no reason why this line can't shut down the league's best while also being a scoring threat. 

Speed also means odd-man rushes, and even if Tsyplakov is slower than the other two—which he is—we saw on Sunday night that his hands and IQ could make the plays for him. 

MacLean earned a starting job after his play down the stretch and in the postseason. He's a perfect complement to Cizikas, a dual threat that could carry over from 5-on-5 to the penalty kill.

Cizikas will no longer be the first and only guy in the offensive zone on the rush, as MacLean's speed should increase rush opportunities. 

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