Isles Do Right by Martin and de Haan

The news that Calvin de Haan will be sent back to Oshawa for the season and that Matt Martin will start the year in Bridgeport shows that the Isles have the right idea when it comes to developing their young players. Though Nino Niederreiter's inclusion on the Opening Night roster is a little disconcerting, the Isles do have nine games to decide whether they'd like to send him down to Portland for the rest of the year.

With Martin, my rationale for favoring his demotion is well-known to anyone who's been reading regularly. I have confidence that with enough development, Martin has an appreciable shot at becoming a complementary top six player. It's not just that Martin has the perseverance and eagerness to learn that allows him to constantly develop his all-around repertoire, because many players have that type of tireless determination. It's that Martin has the physical ability and intelligence to translate that to tangible results. Every time I've seen him over the past year and a half, he's always come farther, and that continued this pre-season. With his improved skating and his pretty slick passing chops, he's now shown more than just the smallest inkling that he can contribute enough offensively to line up with guys like Josh Bailey.

Martin didn't have to prove that much more than he had by the end of last season. In his very short NHL stint, he already displayed that he could win battles in the corners, assert his will physically, and set strong screens in front of the net. Now, he's added in the ability to skate like a real NHL player and pass with some impressive vision. Provided he can knock in about 15 garbage goals a year, that's enough to get him top six minutes. But why stop there when Martin might have more left in him before he maxes out? That's why he should get more top six time in the Bridge.

As for de Haan, he's extremely talented, but the pre-season exposed both his dire need to adjust to pro game speed and his rust from the time off due to his shoulder injury. There was no reason to toss him into the fold when you already have a solid top four even without Streit (Wiz, Martinek, MacDonald, Eaton), plus two guys who could easily handle bottom six minutes (Mottau, Hillen) and three capable backups (Kohn, Gervais, and Reese). So it's not like you needed to unnecessarily rush de Haan for the sake of the success of the NHL team. He's best off playing a full, dominating season in the OHL with his buddy Tony DeHart, plus he can probably do very well at another WJC.

A nine-game audition for El Niño is a decent idea, but I wouldn't keep him around if he's not gonna merit more than 12 minutes a night. The last thing you wanna do is start molding him into a grinder; this is a top-five pick with some really good potential at a very young age. I trust Isles management to handle this situation the right way, regardless of whether the "right way" turns out to be a full year with the Islanders or a trip back to the Winterhawks. From what I saw, Niederreiter will need some time to make his mark, and the team can ill afford to drag him along while it desperately needs to tread water until its workhorse is healthy.

In sum, though, it's nice to see that the young guns will be developing outside the NHL team, as well they should. Having reliable vets like Sim fill in on the fourth line is always a better option.