It won’t be the Identity Line anymore.
But the Islanders want their fourth line to fill the same role that the Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck trio did for so many years, even though it’ll likely include just one of the three.
Clutterbuck is not in camp after having gone unsigned as a free agent.
Martin, who made his preseason debut Tuesday night in the Islanders’ 6-4 loss to the Rangers at the Garden, is here but faces an uphill climb to make the team on a professional tryout contract.
Step on up, Kyle MacLean.
“I don’t know yet who’s gonna be on the fourth line, quite honestly,” Isles coach Patrick Roy said before Tuesday’s preseason game against the Rangers. “But whoever it will be, maybe those guys will play a different kind of game but it’ll be an important role for us. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Roy’s unwillingness to reveal his thinking on the lineup aside, it does look as though MacLean — after a strong stint at the end of last season — will get the first crack at centering the fourth line, potentially with Cizikas on his wing.
That wasn’t how the Islanders lined up against the Rangers — Cizikas instead centered Martin and Hudson Fasching, while MacLean skated between Pierre Engvall and Eetu Liukas — but Cizikas said pregame he would be happy at either center or wing once the regular season starts.
At least for now, that looks like his likely destination once the depth chart shakes out.
“I love their speed,” Roy said of a potential Cizikas-MacLean combination. “I love their energy. I love the fact that they’re 200-foot players. Casey, he’s an experienced guy. He knows the game, he’s smart. Plays with intensity out there. Same thing for MacLean. Right now, it’s nice to be able to count on them.”
As to who will round out the fourth line on opening night, it’s an open question, but two of the potential candidates skated in Tuesday’s game.
If Martin makes the opening-night lineup, it would almost assuredly be in that role given it’s what he’s played for just about his entire Islanders career.
But barring injury, it’s hard to construct a roster that includes him.
That brings us to Fasching.
Fasching was never able to nail down a consistent role last season, in part because he was blocked from permanently being on the fourth line — where he played his best hockey in 2022-23.
His straight-line game and speed would, in theory, round out a line with MacLean and Cizikas well.
“He’s smart,” Cizikas said of Fasching. “He’s good at protecting the puck, he’s good down low. He’s another guy, he’s done everything the coaches have asked him to do. That’s the biggest thing you can do in this league. You play your style, you do the right things out there, you show them what your game is about. I think he’s done a really good job of that.”
A third option could be Oliver Wahlstrom, who is fighting for a roster spot in camp after being surprisingly re-signed following a disappointing 2023-24 campaign.
Simon Holmstrom, who has started camp on the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, may be an option as well, though that appears less likely.
Both of them played on Sunday against the Devils, but did not feature Tuesday night.
“I trained like an athlete for the first time this summer, which was nice,” Wahlstrom told The Post last week, referring to the knee injury that affected his training a year prior. “I got to work on a lot of things I didn’t get to last summer. It felt really good.”
While he declined to say whether he expected to be an Islander this season, saying only that it was between himself and Lou Lamoriello, Wahlstrom acknowledged that he needed to use this camp to show he still belongs.
“I think just staying more engaged every shift, every night,” Wahlstrom said. “And then I know I’m engaged every shift, every night, things open up for me.”
