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Islanders: Patrick Roy sees Jonathan Drouin on his first line

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Sep 15, 2025 9:37 PM ET

On July 1, Jonathan Drouin made the decision to continue his career with the Islanders. After relaunching his career with the Avalanche, he signed a two-year contract that will pay him $4 million a year. And for a guy who scored 37 points in 43 games last year, it has the potential to be a real bargain . The question, though, is what role awaits Drouin on Long Island. We know that the Québécois has benefited from playing with Nathan MacKinnon for the past two years, and the Isles don’t have a player of MacKinnon’s caliber, but today Patrick Roy was asked about his trios for next season… and in sharing his top-9, he placed Drouin on the… he’s on the left of Bo Horvat and Maxim Shabanov.

Patrick Roy say this is the plan right now:

Drouin-Horvat-Shabanov Lee-Barzal-Palmieri Duclair-Pageau-Holmstrom Nothing on fourth line yet.#Isles– Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 15, 2025

[content-ads]With Horvat and Shabanov, Drouin will be playing alongside two very talented forwards. He’s a long way from MacKinnon, but he’s got some good linemates, sowillhe beable to maintain his offensive production?It‘s also worth noting that Roy’s top-9 does not include Emil Heineman, acquired in the deal that sent Noah Dobson to Montreal. After all, the Isles didn’t go looking for him to send him to the stands… even though Patrick Roy wouldn’t confirm this.So we’ll be watching to see what happens with Drouin and Heineman, who are both starting a new chapter in their careers on Long Island. Spacer title=’Overtime’] –The guys are having fun.