That is not what the D pairs will look like

Sure it is. Gustafson trips over his own blue line and won't fit in to the Trotz system.

Unfortunately it very well might

I would bet anything that it won’t and you will see in pre-season why they won’t roll with it in the regular season. It couldn’t even pass as a legitimate NHL caliber D pairing.

Who says Gustafsson is going to make the team? Chara and Mayfield pairing wouldn’t fit Trotz system either considering it requires one defenseman to be able to move the puck out of the Dzone. Both chara and mayfield are stay at home D.

Both can move the puck out of the zone just fine. You're over analyzing things. They won't be going end to end but they can still pass the puck. Greene did it all last year and he's stay at home as well.

No they cannot. Greene was one of the worst passers in the league last season - just admit you’re a moron

I'm the moron? Greene has incredible hockey sense. He may have lost a step or two, but 99% of the time he always make the smart play. Maybe it's you that has no clue what you're talking about.

Having hockey sense is irrelevant to the point I’m making. Greene struggles to complete passes and If you actually watch the islanders play , you would see that Greene defers to his D partner to move the puck out. Chara (who’s better than Greene) is the same way. Trotz system requires one D on each pairing to be able to skate the puck out and generate offense. Greene and Mayfield got killed last season in limited minutes and Chara can’t survive without a puck mover as well. You clearly don’t know the isles system.

I'm not sure you watched many games last year as you're trying to convince me you did. Greene was fine moving the puck and yes, he tossed the puck to Dobson, but he also moved the puck out along the boards quite often, Like I said 99% of the time he always makes the smart play. I have no idea who you "think" is going to get that final LD spot, but I guarantee it'll be this set up. I can't see Trotz splitting up Greene and Dobson. Trotz likes to go back to what he knows works for him and moves them around when he feels its necessary.

You are wrong - Greene was one of the worst puck movers in the NHL last season. He is strictly a stay at home guy (he wasn’t even good in that regard). I would like to highlight Greene’s game 7 performance against the lightning (isles outshot 14-0 through 1st 2 periods with him on the ice) . Good times.

Trotz won’t put Mayfield and Chara in a position to fail by putting them on the same pairing. He knows Mayfield needs a D who can evade pressure and skate the puck out (similar to Leddy). Chara will obviously be a regular which will make Greene the 7D. Unfortunately Greene isn’t an NHLer at this point in his career.

You must think Chara is going to take over Leddy for the powerplay LOL. One of those bottom 4 LHD spots will go to a D who can run a powerplay

*LOL* 3 years later and you still don't know Barry loves his vets. Ok man. I stand by what I said, Greene was fine last year. I love how people comment about players they don't like, but ignore the mistakes of the players they do. Like Dobson's turn overs during the Lightning series or him coughing up the puck constantly when a hit was coming his way. Now don't get me wrong I like Dobson, I think he's going to be a very good defenseman for years, barring injury. But at least acknowledge it wasn't only Greene.

Nope, Dobson, Pulock and 8 forwards more than likely.

Trotz does like his vets - he’s also never put two stay at home defenseman together in his career. During his interviews he has stated multiple times he needs a puck mover with a stay at home D. Lou’s teams have never had 4 stay at home D in the same lineup either.

I don’t dislike Greene because of his age, i dislike him because he brings no value to the team. You can say he was fine, but it’s just not true. You’re a part of that section of the isles fanbase that glorifies 35+ players no matter how bad they play. Chara on the other hand is still pretty good, which is why I don’t mind the signing. He is a Greene replacement, because he does Greenes job a lot better.

Signing Gustafsson to a PTO shows that Lou/Trotz know they need a puck mover/PP QB to replace Leddy. Whether he makes team or not, we’ll see. But one of those bottom 4 LHD will go to an offensive defenseman. There could be another trade, Gus could make the team, or it’s possible Salo wins the spot with a strong camp

Well I guess we'll see opening night, but I'm putting my money on these 6.

If Greene is in the lineup (highly unlikely) I can only hope he has by far the worst season of his career 🙏

Just wait till trotz gets ahold of it.

They will 100% try it in pre-season. They’ll mix and match with a bunch of different pairs. I will bet anything that they won’t go into the season with Mayfield paired with one of Greene/Chara

Mayfield with either Greene/Chara as his partner would lead to a stat line of being outshot something like 20-2 every game while being responsible for multiple goals against. That’s not very Trotz like to roll with a liability like that - does he want it to work? 100% but his teams identity is structured play and fast breakouts. A Greene/Chara-Mayfield pairing doesn’t allow his team to play to their identity.