Islanders NHL rumors: Projecting 2018-19 opening night lines

It’s been an offseason of extreme changes for the New York Islanders both on and off the ice.

From the hiring of Lou Lamoriello as team president to the dismissals of general manager Garth Snow and head coach Doug Weight to the hiring of Barry Trotz as the new bench boss to the loss of John Tavares in free agency, the Islanders have been awfully busy.

And for all that, expectations aren’t necessarily high for the team that had the worst defense in hockey last season. Lamoriello has yet to acquire help on the blue line, which doesn’t suggest that the defense will see an enormous improvement. They also haven’t really replaced the production that was lost when Tavares signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, instead promoting reigning Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal from the second line to first.

At 21 years old, Barzal is the future of the franchise and has a few other young counterparts, like Anthony Beauvillier, Devon Toews and possibly Josh Ho-Sang, that will be tasked with trying to turn the organization around.

They’ll look to join forces with a number of familiar faces as we here at Metro try to predict what the Islanders starting lineup will look like on opening night, which is rapidly approaching on Oct. 4 in Carolina against the Hurricanes.

Here is what we came up with: