Deprecated: Automatic conversion of false to array is deprecated in /var/www/hockeybuzz.com/classes/clsBlog.php on line 243 HockeyBuzz.com - Ben Shelley - Can the Islanders take a step forward this season?
With the 2024-25 NHL season on the horizon, and preseason action now already underway, New York Islanders hockey is back.
Entering the year, the Islanders will be looking to break out of the middle-of-the-pack situation they’ve found themselves in over recent years. Following back-to-back Conference Final runs in 2020 and 2021, the Islanders have plateaued over the last three seasons, missing the playoffs once, followed by back-to-back first round exits to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Seemingly forever in a salary cap crunch, the team also didn’t have a ton of flexibility this offseason and are set to ice a fairly similar roster. The team’s goaltending situation remains the same, and the defense group is still pretty much completely intact.
But for the first time in a little while, there’s a case to be made that the Islanders could actually see a bit of upward momentum this season, based on a few factors.
External Additions
Despite their cap crunch, the Islanders made one notable addition with the signing of Anthony Duclair. Even if just for the Duclair addition alone, considering no key pieces were lost in the offseason, New York's roster looks better on paper than it did last year.
The winger is one of their larger adds up front in recent years, and for a team who really relied on their four top forwards for the bulk of their offense, Duclair is an immediate help within the top-six. So much pressure was put on Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri to lead the contributions from the team’s forward group last season, but with Duclair in the mix, the team now actually has a left winger who can produce at a relatively high level while playing up the lineup. If the team does run with Duclair-Horvat-Barzal on a regular basis, then for the first time in a while, the Islanders will have what should be a capable top line.
The team also brought in Maxim Tsyplakov from the KHL. While Tsyplakov only has one really strong year of KHL production to show for, he does immediately add some depth to the team’s left wing as well. We saw him set up Julien Gauthier with a nice pass in the preseason win over the New Jersey Devils, and it seems likely that he’ll crack the team’s roster to begin the year.
With Duclair and Tsyplakov both in the fold, the Islanders have more options on the left side, taking pressure off some players who should be a little further down the lineup than they've previously been used.
Possible Internal Improvement
Based on how large of a role Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson took on last season, it can be easy to forget the duo are still only just entering their mid-20s. Both took huge steps in the 2023-24 campaign, and have set themselves up to be the team's future on the blue line. There’s still room for Romanov to grow his role, and for Dobson to get tougher in his own end and continue improving defensively, but given their age, there’s a real chance we’re still just scratching the surface of how effective the duo can be.
Then up front, Simon Holmstrom is the top candidate to take a step forward this season. He was a lot more impactful in his sophomore year, but with only 125 NHL games under his belt, you’d expect there’s probably still more to come. While he’s unlikely to ever emerge as a point-per-game player, we could see him start to put up consistent, middle-six production.
Essentially, it seems like there’s more of a chance that we see younger players continue taking steps forward than veterans starting to face a decline. The two top forwards who are starting to get into age-based decline territory would be Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, and neither has shown real signs of heading that direction. If I’m betting on either Holmstrom scoring 20 points more than last year, or Nelson seeing a drop-off of about 20 points, I think the Holmstrom bet is more likely to hit.
Players who could Bounce Back
What’s important to note about last season is that for as frustrating and inconsistent as the team could be, they still made the playoffs with several of their core pieces not at their best. If even only some of these players can rebound, they’re going to be in much better shape.
Notably, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock haven’t been anywhere near as effective as they were during the Conference Final runs. For two blue liners who were a source of consistent, shutdown defense, their results have taken a steep downward turn, and they've also struggled to stay healthy.
Still though, with both players only entering their 30s this year, there’s still a chance they could rebound. We may never see them provide the results they did a few years ago, but their age also doesn’t necessarily point to a sustained, age-based decline quite yet.
Plus, a healthy Scott Mayfield does help a good deal, and it’s hard to truly judge his performance in the games he did play last season, given the extent of the injury he was playing with. The Islanders really need him rebound given the defenseman still has six more years left on his contract, but hopefully with him back at 100 percent, we’ll be able to write off last season as a fluke.
We also know how impactful Anders Lee can be, and despite his down year last season, he did see better results as the year went on. There’s probably less of a chance of a major bounce-back for him given his age, but Lee getting back to a 25-goal, 50-point pace would be a big boost for the team’s offense.
Perhaps the biggest note here though would be about Ilya Sorokin. The netminder struggled this past season (at least compared to expectations), posting a .909 save percentage. Now, it appears as though his status for the start of the season is up in the air, after undergoing offseason back surgery.
However, Sorokin’s career sample size would point to him rebounding to post the results we've previously seen from him. Even though Semyon Varlamov was great last year when needed, if Sorokin can reclaim his status as one of the world’s top netminders this year, the Islanders are instantly a lot more dangerous.
–
Of all that could go right though, ultimately, it’s also hard to pinpoint an exact solution to one of the Islanders’ biggest issues last season, which was the consistent blowing of leads. While an improved offense could be in the cards for New York this season, it’s not going to do them a ton of good if they still can’t manage to lock down a lead.
Even in Tuesday’s preseason game against the New York Rangers, once again, the Islanders blew a three-goal lead to lose in the third period. Obviously, you can’t base a ton on preseason action where a good chunk of the team’s projected roster isn’t playing, but it’s at least a little nerve-wracking following what we saw time and time again last season.
Still, entering the year, it seems like there’s more that can go right than wrong for New York, in terms of adjusting their position from last season. In a worst-case scenario where there’s minimal internal improvement from young roster pieces, the external additions don’t help a ton, and none of Sorokin, Pelech, Pulock, Lee or Mayfield can rebound, the Islanders are still probably looking at being in roughly the same position as last year, battling for a playoff spot. It’s not a perfect spot to be, but many teams remain worse off.
But there’s the potential that if a few things do go right, the Islanders could be a little more formidable. Of course, it's still very difficult to imagine this team truly contending, short of another major upgrade or two, given the team hasn't been able to make enough really impactful moves to change their direction.
But if some of the cards fall in their favour, we could at least see the team look a bit more competitive than last season.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»
