Pageau Clicking with Islanders On and Off The Ice | NYHN+

After the Islanders acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the NHL trade deadline in February and then signed him to a contract extension, the newest member of the organization spoke glowingly of his new home. The comments immediately endeared him to Islanders fans.

Since then, the love affair has only grown as Pageau has ingrained himself into the Islanders’ culture even more. During the Qualifying Round series with the Florida Panthers, Pageau discussed how lucky he felt to be part of the “Islanders brotherhood.”

He then proceeded to take twitter by storm over the weekend with his WWE-like entrance during the team ping pong tournament the players were holding inside their hotel. Pageau was the “Boys of the Isle” ping pong champion by the end of Saturday.

While Pageau has quickly become a staple with the Islanders off the ice, the comradery has translated to plenty of on-ice success.

The 27-year-old was one of the Islanders best players in their 3-1 series victory over the Panthers. Pageau had goals in three of the four games in the series and had a 52.9% success rate in the faceoff circle.

“I think it’s not only beneficial to me, but I think for everyone,” Pageau said on Sunday about his quick integration into the locker room. “Just to get to know everyone and to get to know me a little more too. I think it just makes it easier on everyone to get to know each other and to get to know a little bit more about everyone.”

Pageau had been off to a good start to his time as an Islander during the regular season. He had goals in his first two games with the Islanders after the trade and was seeing 18-plus minutes of ice time in most games.

The NHL restart also helped Pageau in a big way, allowing for the centerman to get a full training camp in with his new club and the time in the bubble has quickly brought him closer to the rest of the team.

“What better bonding experience can you have but basically being in a bubble in the last six weeks,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “That’s what you want and hope to achieve every year, even when you one or two new guys. I think it’s helped him immensely. I think it’s helped Andy Greene immensely.”

When the Islanders acquired Pageau in February, part of the appeal was his ability to step up in big situations in the playoffs. Pageau famously scored four goals against the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Second Round when he was with Ottawa.

In 35 playoff games entering the 2020 postseason, Pageau had 12 goals and four assists.

Pageau also comes with the ability to play both the penalty kill and power play, which is a big-time advantage for the Islanders. Trotz has already utilized him in both situations during the Qualifying round.

“You check a lot of brackets and columns with (Pageau),” Trotz said. “He’s a little bit like a swiss army knife because I can use him on both special teams. He can be in a shutdown role. He can be in an offensive role. He can play all three forward positions and he’s got some playoff experience.”

Trotz added: “He’s just a really good pro that fits into our culture and fits into the Islander way.”