Islanders begin defensive overhaul with Alexander Romanov lost for season

The Islanders’ first crack a lineup without Alexander Romanov came with a reshuffling instead of a call-up. Coach Pete DeBoer kept Matthew Schaefer on the right and inserted Scott Mayfield into the lineup for Thursday’s match against the Blackhawks at UBS, moving Logan Stanley to the top pair alongside Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo to his off side on Mayfield’s left. Those were the first and third pairs; the second featured the reunion of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. “We’re gonna start this way, and we’ll see,” DeBoer said.“And then from there, nothing’s set in stone.

We might move guys around, so I think probably a lot like our line combinations, I’m not married to anything.But I think the initial thought was, we’ve got puck movers with guys that think defense first.” With Romanov likely to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers, it’s a safe bet this is only the first attempt at sorting out the defense pairs.

It’s instructive, though, that DeBoer kept Schaefer on the right, which Schaefer said came after a conversation between the two. That is another sign in a series of them that the organization might see Schaefer as a long-term option on the right — which would be a way of balancing out a lefty-heavy pool of defensemen both on the roster and in the prospect pipeline. “Of course [DeBoer’s] gonna talk [to me] and see what I feel comfortable with,” Schaefer said.“At the end of the day, I like just being on the ice.

If it’s left, if it’s right, whatever makes the boat go faster.It’s gonna be awesome.” DeBoer, for his part, said he’s comfortable with Schaefer anywhere — so much so that he can build the rest of the lineup first and then insert the defenseman on whichever side is needed. With Schaefer on the right and Romanov done for the year, the left side has quickly become much thinner than it looked just a few weeks ago, a fact underscored by Stanley playing on the ...