Isaiah George

Right, yeah.

So the biggest thing is the Islanders had talks with Stanley's camp throughout the summer, but they were really hoping that Isaiah George, a young prospect they have, 22 years old, he played 33 games a few years ago, four games last year, could win the job.

And he didn't.

And I don't think the Islanders were comfortable enough with Mayfield and Kessel playing their offside.

How are the Islanders going to handle his loss? Now, before we dive into the short-term situation, let's talk a little bit about the long-term situation.

And every dayers will recall, I mentioned several times during the offseason that the Islanders had a glut at left defense because you have Matthew Schaefer, Adam Pellick, Alexander Romanov, and then Isaiah George.

And then you've got two former number one picks who are close to making the NHL in Kashan Aitchison and Malte Gustafson.

So already you've got seven guys going for three spots in the lineup.

I mean, there are different options, I guess, as far as pairs.

However, if you don't like those two options, you can always send Kessel down to Hamilton.

And the two alternatives are Isaiah George, who had an opportunity to claim that third pair defense spot and did not claim it in the preseason and in training camp, wasn't consistent enough.

Or Kashawn Aitchison, who had a very good camp and preseason, but really probably needs some more seasonings.

I know a lot of Islander fans won't be happy about that, but maybe it is your best option.

or you call up Keyshawn Aitchison or Isaiah George, I feel like that's probably not going to happen.

I don't think you want to call up those guys at this moment.

It seems like the Islanders don't want to do it because if they did, I feel like Aitchison would have been on the team to start the year.

And for the Islanders, with Romanov unfortunately out for the whole year again, Do you trust Mayfield, Aitchison, or George, or do you go looking for the trade market? I don't know.

Me, personally, I might check in on Edmondson and Nikitian now because at this point, I think they want Aitchison down in the minors to just develop a little better.

And then Isaiah George, unfortunately, was so bad in preseason that I don't know how I feel about that.

Maybe you give him a game here.

I don't think there's any reason to be concerned about this top pair.

Uh, the concern comes where if Romanov is missing any points in time, I don't know if you can hold that pair together, right? And I think there are a lot of options what you can do if, if he is going to have to miss a game, right? You can always call Isaiah George up, move Stanley up, and kind of have Stanley as your second pair defenseman for Ryan Pulock.

But this is where the conversation gets really tough with the Islanders' defense.

This is a team that could have potentially a, a strong defense, right? Again, that Pelech-Pa, uh, Schafer pair, that's a world-class pair.

You make it stylistically work.

You have all these plethora of left-handed defensive prospects, whether it's, you know, Isaiah George, or Kashawn Aitchison, or Malte Goffsison.

If you want them to succeed, you have to fit them in the roster somehow.

They would have to get used to playing on the offside.

Someone's got to come up.

It could be a situation where Aiterson gets a set nine game crack.

Maybe Isaiah George becomes a full-time NHL, despite him having an admittedly, because I was rooting for him, horrible training camp.

Yeah, it was rough, apparently.