Valtteri Filppula never was going to make anyone forget departed captain John Tavares when he was signed earlier this summer, but the veteran center already is conjuring comparisons among his teammates to another significant player to leave the Islanders as a free agent in recent years.
“As a player, we all know he had his years in Detroit, and I don’t know if you remember Frans Nielsen around here, but we always used to joke that they were carbon copies of each other,” Isles forward Matt Martin said after Monday’s 4-0 win over San Jose in Brooklyn. “Obviously, I think this team missed Franzy a lot over the last few years, and you get a guy like Fil, he’s just got a ton of experience, got a good brain for the game.