Islanders Kyle MacLean may get shot on fourth line in post-Identity Line world

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 as...