Doug Weight
renewed the teams’ focus at the end of last season and the offense and
defensive units went through some restructuring. The special teams were a bit
scattered and ultimately they missed the playoffs by a point. My take on last
season and supporting stats can be found in part one and part two of last
season’s recap.
Considering the
coming season and what might be in store for our New York Islanders, a few
things stand out. The foremost thing on the minds of the fan base is the John Tavares contract extension. It’s been said by JT and his teammates, that this
shouldn’t be an issue entering the season. Tavares seems comfortable with the
situation right now and is waiting to see the final roster, chemistry and most
importantly, the future venue of the Islanders. The back and forth of the
Barclays Center, its problematic ice and state of the art, yet abbreviated
amenities experienced by Islanders fans has been a hot button issue since the
team has moved to Brooklyn. Rumors of a Belmont Park bid should come into focus
at the end of the month and could be tied to the team’s future with Tavares.
But the real
question we all have is who will be playing with John Tavares on the Isles top
line. Anders Lee had a break out year (3rd in team points with 52
pts) last season and Josh Bailey played the best hockey he’s ever shown (2nd
in team pts with 56) as an Islander. Both wingers had chemistry while playing
with Tavares, but it’s also interesting to think about recent acquisition,
Jordan Eberle (51 points with EDM last season) playing with Tavares on that
first line. Isles country is excited to see what Eberle will bring and to see
if he can be a pure scorer as advertised or the talented player that only
scores against weaker teams. Apparently, Connor McDavid certainly wasn’t happy to see
Eberle go. “It sucks' losing … Eberle to trade, but it's a business.” –
McDavid. What can be
said is that Eberle is a friend and countryman of Tavares, very
familiar with him on the ice after much international play with team Canada
since the junior level. As informal skates turn into camp and the team starts
evaluating their roster, it will be interesting to see how the lines shake out.
Bailey would
look good on the second line with Brock Nelson and exciting forward, Josh
Ho-Sang who should secure a regular spot with the big club this season. Matthew
Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier should also get a serious look out of camp and
would be a good fit with an experienced and renewed Andrew Ladd after a big
push (31 pts for 7th on team) on the stat sheet at the end of last
season.
Jason Chimera
also enjoyed a surge (33 points, good for 6th on team) as the Isles
made their playoff push and might make the perfect complement to Casey Cizikas
and Cal Clutterbuck. Cizikas (25pts) and Clutterbuck (20 pts) need a bounce
back season and will be relied upon to bring their intangible energy and snarl
to the Islanders offense. Shane Prince will miss up to
6 months due to injury while versatile Nikolay Kulemin ($4.187M) and big
hearted, Alan Quine ($612K) both have 1 year left on their deals and will need
to show other teams what they can offer or somehow make quite a splash to remain. Especially with cap room at such a premium.
UPDATE: 9/12 Per Arthur Staple, “Alan Quine out 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury. Opens a spot up front for a young player out of camp.”
UPDATE: 9/12 Per Arthur Staple, “Alan Quine out 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury. Opens a spot up front for a young player out of camp.”
On the
defensive side, Nick Leddy (4th on team with 46pts) will be relied
upon even more from the blue line with Travis Hamonic being lost (CGY) to free
agency. Leddy has grown to be the Isles go to, all-purpose D-man since being
acquired in a trade with Chicago for defensemen T.J. Brennan and Ville Pokka
and the rights to restricted free-agent goaltender Anders Nilsson in
October of 2014. The Isles will also look to Johnny Boychuk to bounce back
after missing 16 games last season and add his brand of high level defensive
and special teams prowess. The ever steady Thomas Hickey will be back for at
least one more season (2018-19 UFA) and Calvin de Haan
will be looking to make a statement as well and build on last season’s strong
career showing to show management he is a cornerstone for the Isles future
playoff plan.
Dennis
Seidenberg earned an extension after being more than just a stop gap last
season and should lend some veteran stability to New York's defensive core,
especially with newly re-signed Adam Pelech and hungry,
talented prospects like Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock fighting to get noticed
in camp. Never forget the shows put on by Devon Toews, Sebastian Aho, Robin Salo, Mitch Vande Sompel and
Parker Wotherspoon last season, scrimmage this summer and this season’s rookie
camp currently under way. The rookie camp will also feature a rookie game in Philadelphia on Wednesday Sept. 13 against the Flyers.
In net, Thomas
Greiss and Jaroslav Halak will get a shot at earning the number one spot.
Greiss (26-18, 2.69 gaa, .913Sv%) has been a reliable anchor when slotted as a
number one and we all know Halak (12-9, 2.80 gaa, .915Sv%) can be a top NHL
goalie when healthy. Management wants Greiss in the future plan after
re-signing him to a three-year extension, but Halak (1 Yr
@ $4.5M remaining) will be a free agent next summer. The Isles added Kristers Gudlevskis for NHL-AHL
depth along with BST goaltenders, Eamon McAdam and Christopher Gibson. Linus Soderstrom is at least a year out from the organizational fold, but is sure to be featured
prominently in their soon to be future.
The Islanders
have $2,984,167 in Cap Space (CapFriendly) and a need to
manage their money and assets extra carefully with re-signing Tavares in their
immediate plans. They also need to hope Doug Weight’s new look coaching staff of
Greg Cronin (Assoc.), Kelley Buchberger (Asst.), Luke Richardson (Asst.), ScottGomez (Asst.), Matt Berttani (Asst.) and Fred Braithwaite (Goaltending) along
with Chris Terreri (Goaltending Development Coach and Goalie Coach for the
Bridgeport Sound Tigers) can make an impact as well. Improvements on offense, defense, special teams and consistency are all needed to take the next step. That’s a collection of mostly experienced and all
talented coaches to partner with a new look Islanders team with a ton on the
line and time ticking away on the new ownership's dime.
Here’s to a new
season, a million possibilities and a single goal in mind.
Isles Notes:
Nassau Coliseum
not an option for Islanders, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says.
Former Isles captains concerned about franchise's future.
The Hartford
and the Belmont Dilemma.
New Isles Practice Jerseys
###
Take a moment to remember the fallen heroes & people who lost their lives
in the 9/11 attacks. #NeverForget
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