Roy needs Engvall to be better but believes he will be.
Roy needs Engvall to be better but believes he will be.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- If there's one player who could've benefitted from a coaching change, it was New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall.
After coming aboard the Long Island Express last February, Engvall, alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, seemed like a threesome for the ages.
Despite being a bottom-six forward on a crowded Toronto Maple Leafs team, the 27-year-old just found a home as the second-line left winger, serving as the final piece to a line that carried the Islanders into the playoffs before playing strong in their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Engvall, the transitioner -- engine -- of that line, had five goals and four assists in 18 regular season games before a goal and an assist through six postseason games.
On July 1, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello inked Engvall to a shocking seven-year extension worth $21 million dollars.
It was clear that the number of years was to get the annual average value down, and despite the term, it made sense for Engvall to be brought back, given the success of that line, which has stayed together this season.
After a strong start to his first full season in Blue & Orange, Engvall and his line tailed off.
The Swedish forward has made a few mistakes, and although it would be hard to say that he was scapegoated by previous head coach Lane Lambert, his mistakes forced him to watch from above on a few occasions, while others made similar mistakes that impacted the scoreboard.
But again, Engvall was a first-year Islander, and some of his teammates, who had been on the island for a good while, have longer leashes -- that's just how it goes.
In the Islanders' 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 15, Engvall suffered an upper-body injury, forcing him to miss the final two games of Lambert's tenure.
Through 41 games under Lambert, Engvall scored five goals with 14 assists and at times was a bit too lackadaisical for the second-year head coach's liking.
Missing the first two games under Patrick Roy, Engvall got into the lineup against the Montreal Canadiens and struggled mightily.
Two weak decisions led to two goals against, the second of the two allowing Montreal to score the game-winning goal in the third period with 2:12 to play in the third:
Against the Florida Panthers, a 4-3 overtime loss, Engvall took an offensive zone penalty and just struggled to make much of an impact.
Now, some of that could be him coming back from an injury, but it was more of the play we had seen for most of this season.
Engvall's game, one based on possessions, holds a ton of value in Roy's structure as he preaches possession. But he also preaches disciplined decision-making, and that's something Engvall needs to be better at under Roy than he was under Lambert.
Despite the two-game struggle, Roy has a tremendous amount of confidence in Engvall.
"Pierre is going to be fine," Roy said. "He's a very good hockey player. [Going back to that play against Montreal], Pierre knows exactly what I thought. I don't like bringing this into the paper because it's not the paper's business, but Pierre is a good player. He's an important player on our team.
"Sometimes, it's just, 'Okay, we need a little more from you,' and I know that I'm going to get that from him."
Why does Roy think that?
"Because he's a nice person. He cares about the team. He wants to play for this team. He wants to help," Roy said before bringing the conversation back to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. "Last year in the playoff, everybody said to me he was one of our better players. So let's bring that little flame back and have him playing the way we think he should be playing."
Engvall finding his game again is instrumental to New York making the postseason. He has the speed and the transitioning skills to help the Islanders play Roy's structure to a tee, but like Lamoriello said yesterday, it's all about goal differential, and if Engvall continues to make decisions that send that number in a negative direction, who knows how long Roy will rely on him.
Monday night marks Engvall's first game back in Toronto since being traded.
After being drafted by the Maple Leafs in the seventh round (No. 188) in 2014, Engvall spent four seasons donning the Blue & White, with 83 points (42 goals, 41 assists) in 226 games.
Maybe a return back to where his NHL career began can provide the lighter that reignites Engvall to being the key complimentary player to New York's second line.