I have a bad taste in my mouth from your last playoff run, which was substantially aided by refs swallowing their whistles and letting the Islanders get away with defensive murder. So much illegal stick work uncalled in the form of cross checking, slashing and obstruction. The flagrant uncalled cross check that broke Kuch’s ribs was the most defining 2021 play of that entire NHL playoffs. The NHL literally had to address their lack of enforcement of NHL rules after both the Islanders and Habs advanced as far as they did in very very very large part due to the allowance of dubious defensive play.
Those games were boring and awful to watch as a neutral fan.
Islanders have a good top 4 and goalie. Agreed. They have some natural scorers but a lack of set up guys. Depth is no longer a strength. The team is slow and getting a little long in the tooth. And you lost your excellent coach.
I’d be stunned if you make the playoffs. You did next to nothing in the off-season other than overpay for Romanov. You can’t dump expensive players like Bailey for cap space and didn’t add Kadri, a creative do it yourself player you needed.
I’d lay good money the NYI pick between 6-12th overall with their own natural selection at the 2023 draft, which assumes you don’t win the lottery and the two really bad teams do.
Let me fix some of the bold for you.
The Isles have a very good top-5 and Salo has potential as the 6th defnseman. The defense is top-10 in the NHL, maybe even top-5 if everything breaks right and they stay (relatively) healthy.
The Isles have arguably the best goalie tandem in the NHL. At worst, probably top-3.
The Isles problem is that they have too many setup guys and not enough natural goal scorers.
They need players like Wahlstrom, Beau, etc. to step up a bit more. I believe both will be better this season, but is it enough or do they need to make a move for an additional goal scorer? I think they will ultimately need to bring in one more player.
The Isles have depth in the AHL in players like Holmstrom, Raty, Dufour, etc. at forward. The question is will they get a chance this year and, if so, when and who is displaced?
The defense got significantly younger and faster in just one off season, by adding Romanov and wuth Lambert seemingly willing to give Salo a legit shot, as opposed to just blindly rolling out the corpses of Chara and Greene.
The same changes will happen at forward over the next couple seasons and the Isles have depth down the middle.
While I don't think Barzal or Nelson is your classic No. 1 center, having both is a good tandem. JGP is a fine No. 3 (and I expect a little bounce back from him offensively), Cizikas is a solid No. 4 and Raty is waiting in the wings if an injury occurs. Having five capable centers is a nice luxury to have.
Players like Bailey will be churning off their contracts soon and no longer be an issue. The core is signed and the cap crunch is over.
Kadri is a good player and would have helped this year and probably the next couple years, however, I want no part of that contract long term. That will be a good non-move overall.
I believe the Isles will be competitive this season, but the East and specifically the Metro is a beast overall. Any team could rise or fall due to health and luck. Well, maybe not the Devils.
The key will be the continued growth of players like Barzal, Beau, Wahlstrom, Dobson, Romanov, Salo, Sorokin, etc. while coaching up the prospects in Bridgeport.
Then see what is needed and finally add that very elusive missing sniper within the next year, if not sooner.
