Five key Islanders storylines as training camp begins

This was the Summer of Change on Long Island.

On and off the ice, the Islanders are reporting to training camp on Thursday with an entirely different vibe under new general manager Mathieu Darche.

There is No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer. There is talk of playing a more offensive game. There will be fans in the training camp stands and beards on faces.

Once they hit the ice for the start of the regular season, though, good vibes and $2.90 will buy the Islanders a trip on the subway.

A team that missed the playoffs last year and hasn’t gotten past the first round since 2021 still has everything to prove, and the mood will evaporate quickly if wins don’t follow.

Here are some of the biggest questions and storylines entering camp.

How does Schaefer look in his first training camp?

It is a fait accompli that Schaefer will make the 23-man roster.

The 18-year-old has checked every box so far, and the lack of ability to send him to the AHL means that, unless he looks overwhelmed in camp, the NHL is where Schaefer needs to be this year.

It’s less clear whether Schaefer will play every night or take the Noah Dobson route of starting out as the team’s seventh defenseman, and it’s a question how quickly he’ll adapt to the NHL after playing just 17 games last year with OHL Erie.

As good as he looked at rookie camp, training camp will be his first action against veterans, and the first chance to get a sense of what his immediate impact will look like.

Can Maxim Shabanov be a difference-maker?

Head coach Patrick Roy raised eyebrows on Monday when he said the plan was to start training camp with Shabanov, the rookie KHL import, on the top line with Bo Horvat and Jonathan Drouin.

While forward lines will certainly change between now and opening night, that, combined with Shabanov dominating rookie camp, makes him one to keep a close eye on for the next few weeks.

Shabanov had 23 goals and 44 assists with Traktor Chelyabinsk last season, and displayed a silky skill with the puck along with good speed.

Listed at 5-foot-8, 157 pounds, it’s a question whether Shabanov will be able to handle the physicality of the NHL, but Roy sounded confident about it Monday.

How do special teams look?

Even before camp, the power play and penalty kill have come up in nearly every conversation with players and Roy as the single area the Islanders need to improve upon the most.

Roy is planning to introduce special teams on Day 3 of camp — far earlier than last season — and spend extensive time on it after the Islanders ranked 31st on both the power play and on the penalty kill last year, helping tank their playoff hopes.

Drouin and Shabanov could both play on the power play, and Tony DeAngelo is likely to get another crack at running things from the point after taking over that role upon signing with the Islanders last season. New assistants Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner will be tasked with running the power play and penalty kill, respectively.

Is Semyon Varlamov ready?

When he spoke Monday, Roy wasn’t sure whether Varlamov — who played just 10 games last season after suffering a knee injury and subsequent setback that required surgery — would be on the ice for the first day of camp, though he has started skating on his own.

The situation behind Ilya Sorokin, the entrenched No. 1 Islanders netminder, is an open question as long as Varlamov’s status remains unclear. The Isles signed David Rittich during the offseason as a potential backup and Marcus Hogberg, who played behind Sorokin for most of last season, is still around. If Varlamov can play, he’ll need to prove that he can still be effective at age 37 coming off so much missed time.

How does the bottom of the lineup shake out?

The Islanders are going into training camp with as much organizational depth as they’ve had in recent years, which means the competition for the last few spots in the lineup should be fierce.

Max Tsyplakov and Emil Heineman could be destined for the fourth line, which would, in turn, push Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb out of the lineup, and potentially to the AHL.

Prospect Cal Ritchie put forth a good rookie camp, and if he can push for a roster spot in training camp, it would create a serious dilemma for Islanders brass.

After shockingly failing to make the team out of camp last season, Pierre Engvall is going into this one with what looks like a hill to climb.

On defense, the question is whether Isaiah George can break through and make the team, which would likely require displacing Adam Boqvist as the seventh defenseman, or outplaying Schaefer to start opening night. That is a heavy ask for the former fourth-round pick, who impressed last year in 33 games after being called up.