So Garth did exactly as I expected, getting a backup goaltender in Thomas Greiss. That seems like a pretty solid pickup and an obvious need addressed.
What the Islanders have not done, as of yet, is bring in another defender. Should they?
As of today the Islanders defensive depth chart looks something like this:
Boychuk – Leddy
Hamonic – deHaan
Hickey – Strait
Pulock/Mayfield as a 7th defender.
So, basically the same defense that had some questionable performances last year, minus Visnovsky.
Add in the fact that deHaan (again) and Hamonic are coming off injuries, and Pulock and Mayfield need to play more than they need to be an extra defender, and you can see why I’m a little skeptical here. Unless Pulock and/or Mayfield truly take a full time spot from one of Hickey/Strait or even deHaan, and continue to earn the playing time into the season, the Islanders could use another defender in the mix, in case the youngsters aren’t ready for a full season or some of these guys get injured, which seems to be a constant for this group!
Then again, it is only July 2. Look at how much this area of the team changed in Sept. last year. The roster is not set in July, anything is possible!
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