Islanders' Holmstrom Moved to Fourth Line as DeBoer Blames Expectations

Pete DeBoer has decided the fastest route out of Simon Holmstrom's slow start runs through the bottom six. Holmstrom was moved from the top line alongside Bo Horvat to the fourth line during Monday's practice, ahead of Tuesday's game against the Vancouver Canucks. For a player who opened the season in a top-line role, that's a visible step back, and DeBoer's explanation points more at the mindset than at the lineup card.

What DeBoer is actually saying

The coach's read is that Holmstrom is getting too caught up in the scoresheet. "He's an honest player," DeBoer said. "I think expectations sometimes get in the way. Sometimes you're thinking more about the end result, the goals, the assists, and the process gets lost a little bit in that. So just a reset for him."

Here's the thing: that's a coach describing a familiar problem, not a player who's lost his work ethic. When a forward has a couple of solid seasons, the number at the end of the year starts to feel like the job. The shifts that used to produce goals, like winning pucks below the hash marks, getting to the net and playing a simple two-way game, can start to feel like background noise. DeBoer's point is that Holmstrom's value has always come from those details, and that the scoring followed from them rather than leading them.

Taking him off the top line is a way to strip away some of that pressure. A fourth-line role usually means fewer high-leverage minutes and fewer expectations about who finishes plays, which gives a player room to get his game back to basics. Whether it works depends on how quickly he buys into a simpler job, and that's the part worth watching.

The numbers behind the concern

Holmstrom has one goal and one assist through five games. The sample is small, and five games don't define a season. But the context makes the start stand out. He put up 19 goals and 22 assists last season, and before that he set a career best with 20 goals and 25 assists in 2024-25. Two near-20-goal campaigns in a row suggested he was growing into a dependable two-way forward who could contribute offensively, the kind of player the Islanders hoped would become a real piece of their long-term plans.

That's why a slow start draws attention. When a player has already shown he can produce, a dry stretch raises questions about whether the production was real, or whether something has shifted in his approach. DeBoer's answer is that the process has slipped, and the goals will follow if it comes back.

The injury wrinkle

Holmstrom is also dealing with a broken nose. He was hit in the face by a clearing attempt from Rangers defenseman Sean Durzi during the Islanders' 5-2 loss at Madison Square Garden. He left that game briefly before returning to action. The injury adds a layer to the early numbers, and it's a reminder that a player can be working through physical discomfort even when the coach's focus is on mindset. DeBoer's public comments put the emphasis on expectations, not the injury, so that's the framing to take at face value for now.

Where the Islanders need him

The timing matters for the roster. The Islanders are still searching for consistent production throughout their lineup, and Mathew Barzal is sidelined by a knee injury. With one of their established forwards out, the team has less margin for a young winger who isn't generating offense. That's the pressure underneath DeBoer's decision, even if he isn't framing it that way.

Holmstrom seems to understand the message. After his conversation with DeBoer, he acknowledged that he's "got to be more involved." That's the right kind of admission. It doesn't promise a quick fix, but it points to the part of his game that the coach wants back: engagement in every shift, not just waiting for the puck to come to him in the offensive zone.

What to watch next

The fourth-line stint is a test of whether Holmstrom can reset without losing his confidence. Watch his ice time, his shift quality and whether he's involved in pucks and puck battles more often than he's been in the early going. If he starts winning those small battles and the points follow, DeBoer will have his answer, and a path back to a bigger role should open up. If the struggles continue after a few games in the bottom six, the question shifts from expectations to fit, and that's a different conversation for the Islanders to have. For now, the plan is simple: fewer minutes, fewer pressures and a return to the habits that made him useful in the first place.