Isaiah George has been taken out of the rotation in each of the last two games.
In each of the last two games, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy has elected to take 20-year-old rookie Isaiah George out of the rotation.
In their 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, George didn't play the final 7:24.
Roy said after that game that he loves George's ability to bounce back, which is why he gave him another shot on Thursday night:
However, in their 3-0 shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers, George did not see the ice for the final 33:02 minutes.
George has hit a wall in his rookie season. This happens. Unfortunately, the Islanders need to win hockey games, and playing five defensemen in must-wins isn't a great recipe for success, despite it working the last two games.
So, the question is, what should the Islanders do with their youngster?
While the moves for Tony DeAngelo and then Scott Perunovich essentially showed a lack of trust in Dennis Cholowski's game, the 26-year-old has played well through 29 games to another opportunity.
The reason he hasn't been in the lineup is because Roy liked George's game.
Cholowski can skate alongside Scott Mayfield, so none of the other defense pairings that have played so well needs to be touched.
But then the question becomes: Does it benefit George to sit as the seventh defenseman, or should he go to Bridgeport and play big minutes?
Unfortunately, Bridgeport has been horrific, and prospects there have all taken steps backward outside of Alex Jefferies. Therefore, it would be more beneficial for George to stay on the NHL roster until upper management gets their AHL squad in order, hopefully after this season.
There's tremendous value in George staying up with the big club, practicing with the team, and learning how to overcome adversity at the NHL level.
Just because he's had a few bad games in a row, that doesn't mean he can't get into the lineup again soon. But a few games off could allow for a good mental reset.
When George plays the simple north-south game, he's effective and can help the Islanders win. They just need to get him back to that.
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