{"id":307236,"date":"2025-11-25T07:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T07:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/307236\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T07:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T07:27:09","slug":"sending-down-marshall-warren-could-signal-changes-for-the-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/307236\/","title":{"rendered":"Sending down Marshall Warren could signal changes for the Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday marked another turn in defenseman\u00a0Marshall Warren\u2019s yo-yo season<\/a>. The Laurel Hollow product was returned to the Islanders\u2019 AHL affiliate in Bridgeport after his second NHL stint this season consisted of three games as a healthy scratch. <\/p>\n

Yet if it was a minor transaction with regard to the Islanders\u2019 lineup, it may signal some future major implications. <\/p>\n

Injuries to defenseman\u00a0 Alexander Romanov<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0likely out for the season, and third-line center Jean-Gabriel Pageau mean first-year general manager Mathieu Darche has some roster reconstruction to do, though it\u2019s not likely before the Islanders next face the Bruins on Wednesday night at UBS Arena. <\/p>\n

Sending Warren back to Bridgeport without a corresponding move shows the Islanders are accruing every dollar possible against the salary cap in preparation for potential future moves. <\/p>\n

Not convinced? Here was coach Patrick Roy speaking about former seventh defenseman\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Adam Boqvist<\/a>, for now moving to his off-side to take the left-shooting Romanov\u2019s spot on a third pair with righthander Scott Mayfield. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou hope the guys coming in will fit in and hopefully that Boqvy will play like he\u2019s been playing,\u201d Roy said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for him and he needs to take advantage of it. And we\u2019ll see what Mathieu decides.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n

Adam Boqvist of the New York Islanders against the Detroit Red Wings at UBS Arena on\u00a0Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac<\/p>\n

This was said before Darche decided to return Warren to Bridgeport. Warren, 24, who is lefthanded, has two assists in two games for the Islanders in his two stints in the last two months. <\/p>\n

Boqvist, just 25 but who already has played for Chicago, the Blue Jackets and the Panthers, is a very different player from the physical Romanov. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a puck-mover,\u201d Roy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that supports the rush. So what we want to see is him continue to do that. But we also want to make sure he defends well. Good squeeze on the entry. Using his speed to his advantage. Being able to take hits and being able to make plays under pressure, that\u2019s something we\u2019re going to want to see him continue to do well.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Boqvist\u2019s limited ice time in Sunday\u2019s 1-0 shootout win over the Kraken \u2014 he logged 10:16, the lowest among the defensemen and just slightly more than fourth-liners Anthony Duclair and Max Tsyplakov \u2014 shows that Roy does not completely trust him yet in crucial situations. The defense pairs rotated throughout the game as Boqvist was routinely skipped on shifts. <\/p>\n

So yes, defense depth is suddenly of major concern for the Islanders with Romanov facing another surgery on the shoulder that first went under the knife in 2023. The Islanders announced that he will miss five to six months. In other words, at best, he might be available if the Islanders make the playoffs. <\/p>\n

To be fair, defense depth already was an issue, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree. Right-shooting Tony DeAngelo played less than 14 minutes in three of the first four games on the Islanders\u2019 recent seven-game road trip. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s all balanced by the play of No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, who logged 27:23 against the Kraken with four shots on goal and nine shot attempts. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably one of the better games for Schaefer since he\u2019s been here,\u201d Roy said. <\/p>\n

But Roy can\u2019t keep throwing Schaefer, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock over the boards for shift after shift without some negative wear and tear, even considering Schaefer\u2019s youth. <\/p>\n

Darche simply has to make a move to bolster the defense, and it\u2019s not clear whether recalling one of Warren\u2019s Bridgeport teammates, be it Cole McWard, Isaiah George or Travis Mitchell, would be a sufficient answer. <\/p>\n

But Darche\u2019s ability to make a trade is made harder by Pageau\u2019s injury and the potential need to find another center. For now, the hope is that rookie Cal Ritchie will be productive enough to fill Pageau\u2019s spot. Casey Cizikas is back in his longtime role of centering the fourth line, but without Ritchie and rookie Max Shabanov \u2014 also elevated to the third line \u2014 it\u2019s difficult to believe Roy will be rolling four lines consistently. <\/p>\n

That, too, takes a physical toll on the forwards getting increased minutes. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust guys stepping in and filling voids,\u201d Bo Horvat said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to need that.\u201d <\/p>\n

But if Warren\u2019s reassignment on Monday showed anything, it\u2019s that Darche knows he has some roster reconstruction to do.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John\u2019s and MLB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday marked another turn in defenseman\u00a0Marshall Warren\u2019s yo-yo season. The Laurel Hollow product was returned to the Islanders\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,39993,5791,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-307236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-li-athletes","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}