Better Luck Next Year: New York Islanders edition
As NHL teams are officially eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown looks back at the highs and lows of their seasons, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The 10th edition focuses on the New York Islanders.
The Good
The magnificence of Mathew Barzal. Watching him play, it’s almost hard to believe this is Barzal's rookie year. The 20-year-old has put up 79 points in 79 games, and his 59 assists are tied for fifth in the league. Barzal is undoubtedly the top candidate for this year's Calder Trophy.
A new arena (almost). Just about everyone has been unhappy since the Islanders left Nassau Coliseum and made Barclays Center their new arena. New York could call Belmont Park home by the start of the 2021-22 season, when construction is expected to be completed on the new 18,000-seat arena. Until then, they’ll split time at Barclays and the Coliseum for the next three seasons once updates to the latter are completed through the summer.
Goals aplenty. For all of their defensive troubles, the Islanders’ offense has stayed healthy, coming into the week ranked eighth in the league in goals per game. Barzal and John Tavares each average at least one point per game, Anders Lee is on track to reach 40 goals for the first time in his career, and Jordan Eberle has reached the 25-goal plateau in his first year with the Isles.
The Bad
Awful goaltending. One of the most obvious things wrong with the 2017-18 Islanders is their goaltending. The penchant for keeping three goalies up at the same time (as they’ve done more than once) prevents any one of them from getting into a rhythm. The .899 combined save percentage between Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss, and Christopher Gibson is well below league average.
Defensive deficiencies. The Islanders are on track to finish dead last in the NHL in goals against and have the worst penalty kill in the league. Defense is arguably their biggest problem - and combined with goaltending troubles, has been a recipe for disaster. Losing Calvin de Haan in December has only made matters worse. Nick Leddy's minus-42 punctuates just how bad things have gone for the Islanders’ blue line.
Ho-Sang vs. the Islanders. Josh Ho-Sang recently sounded off on the organization regarding his treatment, and how he felt he was being blamed for some of the team’s defensive issues this season. He was sent down to the AHL for that reason after 22 games. While he may need to work on that side of his game, it’s not really fair to pin the team's defensive woes on a player who really hasn’t had a chance to prove himself at the NHL level.
The Questions
Does Tavares re-sign? Tavares has spent his entire NHL career with the Islanders - but there is a possibility he decides to test free agency when his six-year, $33-million contract expires this summer. He could easily double his $5.5-million cap hit in his next contract.
There are many factors for Tavares to consider. How does he feel about the overall direction of the team? The Islanders have two picks in the first round of the draft; it’s a long shot, but they could win the No. 1 pick and draft Rasmus Dahlin, who would immediately improve the defense. And then there’s the chance Tavares might not even consider leaving at all. This is a similar situation to when Steven Stamkos stayed in Tampa, but the Lightning were also in a much better place than the Islanders are right now.
Will Garth Snow stay? Since Snow was hired as Islanders GM in 2006, they’ve made the playoffs four times. Now they’ve missed the postseason again for the second year in a row and it could possibly cost them Tavares. Snow’s trade deadline inaction was baffling. Did he not believe the team was a couple pieces away from being truly competitive?
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)