The moment will soon be upon Jack Capuano, and very early in this season it will be known whether the Islanders coach is willing to be as cutthroat about playing time as he has said he is going to be.
That’s because rugged forward Cal Clutterbuck is just about ready to join the lineup, possibly as soon as Tuesday night against the Coyotes at the Coliseum. Clutterbuck, who signed a four-year, $11 million deal this offseason and hasn’t played a game since suffering a leg laceration in the first preseason contest on Sept. 17, has been cleared by doctors and fully participated in practice on Monday.
If his return is not Tuesday, then he could return either Friday in Chicago or Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., and no matter when it is, the question remains: Who will come out of the lineup?
The conventional wisdom would make the easy choice rookie winger Brock Nelson, who has shown ability and vision, as well as strength away from the puck. Capuano has lauded Nelson’s play after each of the first two games — of which the Islanders have gone to two shootouts and collected three out of four points.
“It’s been a step up from the preseason,” said Nelson, whose only other NHL experience was playing 7:44 in Game 6 of last season’s first-round playoff loss to the Penguins. “It’s kind of everything you expect. At this level, everyone is faster, everyone is making more plays. Every aspect of the game goes up.”
If Capuano was to be a little more bold — and also take the chance of ruffling feathers by benching a veteran this early in the season — he could sit newcomer Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who started training camp alongside John Tavares on the top line yet has played his way into a role on a third line with Peter Regin and Nelson.
“My discussions with [Bouchard] are that he needs to be a little tougher on pucks, a little stronger on pucks,” Capuano said. “He’s a guy that has good vision, good skater, is crafty, sees the ice real well. … He’s got that offensive instinct, that hopefully that’s going to break out here and we’ll see that soon.”
On Monday, Clutterbuck ostensibly took Colin McDonald’s spot on the fourth line next to Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas, while McDonald moved up to skate as an extra on a line with Nelson, Bouchard and Regin.
If one were so inclined to read the tea leaves, that would show it’s either Nelson or Bouchard — or even Regin, if Capuano decides to move Nelson back to center, where he played for AHL Bridgeport last season — as the most likely candidates to come out upon Clutterbuck’s entering the lineup.
It leaves Capuano with a tough decision, but one that can set the precedent for the rest of the year.
“For sure, I would like to bring more offensively,” said Bouchard, who was a first-round pick of the Wild in 2002 and signed a one-year, $2 million deal this offseason. “With my style of play, I’m not the type of guy that’s going to run around and start hitting and everything. I’m trying to create plays, create scoring chances, getting shots — that’s my game, so that’s what I need to do.”