inside the islanders The scoring and philosophy questions behind the Islanders’ fourth-line battle By Ethan Sears Published Sep. 24, 2026, 10:33 a.m. ET Anthony Duclair skates during Islanders training camp on Sept. 17, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post Not counting Mat Barzal, who is highly likely to miss opening night while dealing with lingering kneecap issues, there are nine forwards who can be considered stone-cold locks to be in the Islanders’ lineup six days from now in Toronto.
Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri have been a de facto first line throughout camp, and without Barzal, the second line has been a constant as well with Matias Maccelli, Cal Ritchie and Brayden Schenn. We know that JG Pageau will center the third line and Casey Cizikas the fourth. Emil Heineman, surely, will be in the lineup as well, though exactly where is a little less certain than with the rest of these forwards.
That’s nine, and while Victor Eklund is not a lock yet, he is inching closer. At this point, it would be a bigger surprise if he didn’t make the team than if he did.
The other two spots — for the lineup, that is, not the roster — are going to come down to the questions of what role Pete DeBoer wants his fourth line to play and how comfortable the Islanders are sitting or sending down certain players.
