Biggest Storylines Entering Islanders Training Camp

While the official start of New York Islanders and NHL training camps is Wednesday, the team won't hit the ice until Thursday.

While the official start of New York Islanders and NHL training camps is Wednesday, the team won't hit the ice until Thursday.

After one of Lou Lamoriello's strongest summers on Long Island, bringing in speed with Anthony Duclair and taking a chance on low-risk, high-reward European free agent Maxim Tsyplakov while using all of his 2024 picks to bolster their prospect pool, there's intrigue on the island. 

Let's get to the biggest storylines entering training camp. 

No matter how you slice it, whether pointing to the weak defense, the abundance of failed clears and box outs, or the absurd number of shots that came his way, Ilya Sorokin wasn't at his best in 2023-24.

He posted career worsts with a 3.01 GAA and a .908 SV%, ultimately losing the starting job to veteran Semyon Varlamov. 

Sorokin is one of the premier goalies in the NHL, and if the Islanders are going to do anything in 2024-25, he will have to play a big part. 

Unfortunately for Sorokin, offseason back surgery after suffering an injury during offseason workouts has put a damper on his availability for the start of camp, per Lamoriello.

"During summer training, he had a little bit of a thing. He is skating, but there’s nothing we are concerned about,” Lamoriello said. “Will he miss the first day (of training camp), the first couple of days? Maybe, but I’m going to leave that up to the training staff.”

We are not doctors — too much school — so we don't know how this injury and recovery will affect his movements between the pipes or when he will ultimately be ready to play.

Given that Sorokin is a long-term investment, entering the first of an eight-year deal worth $8.25 million annually, there's no reason to rush him back, especially with Varlamov more than capable of serving as a No. 1. 

If Sorokin hits the ice for day one, that's a positive sign. 

If not, and he's out longer than expected and has to miss the beginning of the regular season, there's some healthy goalie competition for the backup spot. 

Keith Kinkaid, a 35-year-old veteran with 169 NHL games under his belt, is at camp on a PTO. The team also has former Ottawa Senators netminder Marcus Hogberg under contract for two years. 

Although he's 25 years old, Tsyplakov took part in rookie camp this past week. 

He was a major standout, physically, as he's a unit. His hands, shot, and shiftiness all seem at the NHL level, but we have yet to see what he looks like against other NHL staples. 

Roy said that Duclair will start camp alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, on the team's top line. 

Tsyplakov is expected to start on the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, but there are definitely reservations. 

Will Tsyplakov have the foot speed to play a top-six role?

Unlike in the KHL, where there's more time and space and less physicality, will Tsyplakov have the awareness to let shots go from angles that, maybe, he isn't accustomed to?

There's no question he has an NHL-caliber shot, but it seems that his game is using his frame to crash the net and score greasy goals, a prime Anders Lee 2.0, if you will.

But is he willing to go to the dirty areas at a consistent rate?

Speaking with Tsyplakov, he wants to be an all-situations guy. 

But will Tsyplakov be able to defend against other talented NHLers? 

There are a lot of questions that training camp and preseason will answer, some almost immediately. 

If the answers to most of these questions are yes, the Islanders may have solved their LW 2 issue with a $950,000 cap-hit player. 

But we must remember that Tsyplakov, like most KHLers who come over, will need some adjustment time. 

Starting him in a bottom-six role isn't a crazy idea. 

However, with the way the Islanders' third line of Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Pierre Engvall played at the tail-end of the season and in the playoffs, that's likely a threesome the club wants to keep together to start. 

Tsyplakov could be the difference between the Islanders being a four-line force this season or a puzzle still missing a key piece. 

Bringing in Roy back in January rather than letting Lane Lambert finish out the season was a critical move for the franchise. 

Although the players took some time -- there was a limited number of practices -- to grasp his system, the results were there when they did.

Roy's Islanders finished the season 8-0-1, sneaking into the playoffs and finishing third in the Metropolitan Division before losing in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Having a whole summer to game plan was invaluable to Roy, and now it's time for him to set the same tone he did last season — go hard or go home. 

"There were days that I was watching games and our playoffs and the end of our season," Roy said on his summer. "The reason was very simple. I really want to make sure that we, as a coaching staff, are ready when training camp starts. We want to have a good training camp, we want to make sure we use this training camp to prepare us very well and, basically, set the tone for the start of the season.”

Although Roy didn't lead rookie camp, he certainly left his mark.

Prospect Matthew Maggio said it was Roy's idea for them to bag skate on day three and all the quick sprints to the bench and to each drill as if it were a game-like scenario. 

That's the mentality that Roy wants to instill from day one, and with most of the prospects coming to training camp, they will now hold the NHL players accountable. 

While we aren't expecting a John Tortorella-esque training camp, we certainly think it will be fast-paced, as we saw when Roy took the ice for his first Islanders skate.