The New York Islanders are the second team to be eliminated from the chase for Lord Stanley’s hardware as the Carolina Hurricanes came out on top of Game 6 with an overtime game winning goal from Paul Stastny. In part two of my Elimination Evals series, let’s break down the New York Islanders. What went well for them? What were the highs, the lows, the in-betweens and of course the biggest question regarding the direction of this team. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how they matched up against the Carolina Hurricanes.
In my playoff previews, I did have the Carolina Hurricanes taking the series in six games so for anyone keeping score at home, I haven’t been off yet. One of the biggest things that went well for this Islanders team was the level of physicality they brought into this series as it clearly took a toll on the Hurricanes. Carolina was already going into this series without Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty and now, they’re also down Teuvo Teravainen and Jack Drury. And those are just the injuries we know about as several other guys were definitely getting tossed around and banged up throughout the course of the first round. Generally speaking, the Islanders did a great job of competing with this Carolina team who on paper, is the better team. The high moment for the Isles came in their big Game 5 victory where they held onto the one goal lead and brought themselves within one on the series. The low moment, aside from the Paul Stastny goal that ended the series, had to be that first overtime loss in Game 2. Had they been able to even up the series that much earlier, we could have been having a different discussion right now.
Nevertheless, the Hurricanes took care of business and sent the Islanders home, posing the question of whether or not this season was a success, failure or inbetween. The answer to that question absolutely depends on who you ask. You have to think Lou Lamoriello and the rest of the organization held this team to much higher standards then most other people around hockey did. The Islanders missed the playoffs last season and honestly had a bit of a cop-out in doing so, given the fact they played the first eighth of the season without playing a home game. Flash forward to the middle of this season, things really weren’t looking like they were going to head in the right direction. Until of course, Lou Lamoriello got the trade deadline party started and sent a package involving Anthony Beauvillier to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for their Captain, Bo Horvat. There’s no question that this was the game changing moment in the Islanders season. Despite the fact they still barely made the playoffs, acquiring Horvat indicated that they meant business and had their sights set on getting into the playoffs and making some noise.
Therefore all things considered, I believe the Islanders are going to look at this season through very constructive eyes, penciling it in as more of a failure than a success. Lou wants to win, presumably with this group, which brings us to the biggest question surrounding this team: When will age start to get the best of them? In the amount of time the Islanders have been essentially rolling with the majority of this group, the Rangers have competed for a Stanley Cup, rebuilt and started competing for it all over again. The Islanders have made it to the conference finals twice but have been trending downward ever since. With them being among the oldest teams in the league, you have to ask the question of how much longer can they keep up the intensity needed to fight for a championship?
There’s no question that they’re set on the goaltending front. They’ll likely lose Semyon Varlamov to free agency unless he’s content being a backup and willing to sign for an AAV around one million. Aside from that, they really don’t have much money coming off the books in the off-season. They have a good chunk of UFA’s in Zach Parise, Hudson Fasching, Pierre Engvall, Parker Wotherspoon and Scott Mayfield. You have to think that most of that money is going to go towards signing RFA’s Oliver Wahlstrom and Samuel Bolduc which won’t leave them a ton of room in free agency. Not to mention, if they lose Scott Mayfield and Pierre Engvall, those are some pretty serious holes to fill in your lineup. Mayfield brings a huge presence on the back end and Engvall really seemed to click for them after being traded there from Toronto.
Realistically, even if all their UFA’s walk and they make minimal signings in free agency, this team could very well stay in a wildcard spot give or take. They have Otto Koivula and were without Oliver Wahlstrom in the playoffs, those are two guys that slot into those middle-six holes. It all just comes down to these core guys and how much longer they can stand the test of time. That fourth line, “identity” line of Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck is and has been such a huge part of this franchise over the years. Can they still manage to be an effective line in this newer, fast style of NHL play? I get the feeling that the Islanders are going to miss Mayfield more than they realize if he walks in free agency. Noah Dobson and Alex Romanov are certainly capable of picking up the slack there and there are some names in the system that could take the next step, it all comes down to this core group and how they age.
A side question to come off that big question of how this core will age is what’s going to happen with Josh Bailey? Bailey had three seasons of 50+ point hockey prior to 2020 and since then, has seemed to really fall off. So much so, that he didn’t even play in the postseason and only put up 25 points in 64 games this year. With one year remaining on his contract, could the Islanders look to move him and if so, is there any kind of significant return they could get for him? Admittedly, I haven’t watched a ton of Islanders hockey this year but you’d have to think that there would be interest in a former first round pick who has only ever played with one team and is historically an effective player. In a different type of role, he could be a solid middle-six player but given the latest with him on Long Island, I’m unsure that he’ll be a part of whatever comes next for this team.
Regardless, there are a lot of interesting points to consider with this Islanders team but I really don’t imagine much is going to change this off-season. Lou Lamoriello is a pretty black and white guy so I think he goes into next season with these same guys we’ve been seeing in orange and blue for years, maybe bring up some in the system guys, make one or two minor signings in free agency and see where it goes. If it’s much of the same next season and there isn’t a Bo Horvat to pick up at the deadline, we could start to see some of these core pieces on the trade block but until it happens, I don’t really see it happening.
Chris Feldman
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