NY Islanders Shaking up Lineup Again To Face Wild

New York Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer is changing his team's lineup against the Minnesota Wild.

Oct 25, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Kessel (4) controls the puck in front of Dallas Stars center Colin Blackwell (15) during the third period at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Islanders have been searching for the right combination of players to generate the most production on the ice.

Head coach Peter DeBoer is operating at a deficit with three of his key forwards, Mathew Barzal, Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli, all currently sidelined by injury. Defenseman Alexander Romanov is also out after suffering an ACL injury in the third game of the season.

With so much talent not available, DeBoer has been constantly shaking up his lineup. Line trios have changed with regularity, and the defensemen have all gotten opportunities as well. Against the Nashville Predators, he took an unorthodox approach, dressing only 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

It resulted in a shootout win in a game that was tied 3-3, but that lineup combination wasn’t here to stay. As shared by Andrew Gross of Newsday on X, the Islanders are going back to a more traditional lineup of 12 forwards and six defensemen for their game against the Minnesota Wild.

Islanders making another lineup change against Wild

#Isles Pete DeBoer says he’ll go back to dressing 12/6 tonight. Mayfield and MacLean in and Kessel out. Sorokin starts.

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) October 29, 2026

DeBoer revealed that Kyle MacLean is back in the lineup as the 12th forward and that Scott Mayfield will be the sixth defenseman. That means Matthew Kessel, who had dressed in seven consecutive games, will be removed from the lineup and will be a healthy scratch.

Presumably, MacLean will head back to the fourth line as the left winger with Casey Cizikas at center and Mitchell Chaffee at right wing. DeBoer continues to not deploy his lines in the traditional way, mixing and matching based on how guys are skating on a given night, but that trio will start the game together.

On the first line, Simon Holmstrom remains at left wing with Bo Horvat at center and Kyle Palmieri on the right wing. The second line is Emil Heineman with Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund. Ondrej Palat, JG Pageau and Anthony Duclair make up the third line.

For the defensive pairings, Matthew Schaefer continues to shoulder a massive workload. He made history by becoming the first known player to stay on the ice for an entire five-minute overtime, which is also the longest shift in franchise history.

#Isles at morning skate (they went 11/7 last game w/Mayfield in and MacLean out)

Holmstrom-Horvat-Palmieri
Heineman-Schenn-Eklund
Palat-Pageau-Duclair
MacLean-Cizikas-Chaffee
Stanley-Schaefer
Pelech-Pulock
DeAngelo-Mayfield
Kessel
(D rotating)

Sorokin
Varlamov

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) October 29, 2026

Logan Stanley remains a steady presence on the first pairing alongside him. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are the second pairing, with Mayfield expected to skate alongside Tony DeAngelo.

The second and third pairings have to start playing at a higher level so DeBoer isn’t running Schaefer and Stanley into the ground. Schaefer played a career-high 32:16 against the Predators, and Stanley was over 20 minutes again.

Back in net will be Ilya Sorokin. He will look to bounce back after a disappointing start last time out against the Dallas Stars, when the Islanders lost 6-3 after a disastrous third period.