Monday morning at the New York Islanders Children's Foundation Golf Outing, Islanders' Head Coach Patrick Roy revealed his way-too-early lineup thoughts ahead of training camp. 

Roy stated he envisions the following top nine:

Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) on X Patrick Roy say this is the plan right now: Drouin-Horvat-Shabanov Lee-Barzal-Palmieri Duclair-Pageau-Holmstrom Nothing on fourth line yet. #Isles

Maxim Shabanov, the Russian rookie, is expected to start with Bo Horvat and July 1 signing Jonathan Drouin.

The reveal shows just how much the Islanders value Shabanov, though it's clear this is very, very early and means nothing about how the roster will look October 9 in Pittsburgh.

"But like I said, I mean, it's just a start, you know?" Said Roy, "I mean, things will change. I mean, I almost regret telling you, because I feel like you know you might look bad the next day because things might change so overnight, you never know."

Still, it's extremely clear how high the organization has set its hopes for Shabanov. The 24-year-old impressed throughout rookie camp, and now gets his chance on the Islanders' top line.

"I was watching a lot of clips of Shabanov," said Roy, "When he was in the playoffs against a former player of mine, [Alexander] Radulov, and they lost in the final. But, but he was playing really well. I mean, he's a small player, but I feel like he doesn't know he's small. So that's pretty intriguing for me, and I think for everyone here, because we're curious to see him, how he's going to bring his skills and everything."