As October creeps closer, another NHL season creeps with it.
In the 15th of a series of team-by-team summer reviews and season previews, here's a glimpse at the ...
New York Islanders
Looking for a third straight playoff berth in 2016-17, the Islanders had a hot January, an undefeated April and a 24-12-4 record under interim head coach Doug Weight. But of all teams with at least 94 points in the standings, they had the second worst goal differential (minus-one), surrendering more goals than all but eight teams. A six-game winning streak to close the season wasn't enough to lift New York into the postseason as the Islanders finished below five different 100-point clubs in the Metropolitan Division and were left to watch the playoffs from home.
With Weight locked in as the man behind the bench entering the season, the Islanders are eyeing steps forward both for the short and long term. Their moves this summer suggest their mission pertains almost as much to laying the foundation for a John Tavares contract extension as it does an immediate return to playoff contention.
The moves
Key additions: F Jordan Eberle (trade with Oilers), G Kristers Gudlevskis (trade with Lightning)
Key losses: D Travis Hamonic (trade with Flames), F Ryan Strome (trade with Oilers), F Mikhail Grabovski (trade with Golden Knights)
Forget the pair of early-round draft picks the Islanders sent to Vegas for the Golden Knights to absorb Grabovski's contract. If it's not obvious the Islanders were at least a little focused on stocking up for beyond 2017-18, then what is? Any time you can get three draft picks for Travis Hamonic, you should probably listen to trade offers, but sending a defenseman of his quality out the door isn't exactly the move of a team collecting veteran talent for a postseason run. Ditto for adding Eberle, who is an obvious upgrade over an underwhelming Strome but costs more and could very well be a future trade chip.
New York did a nice job ridding itself of excess salary and protecting its offensive depth thanks to pre-expansion draft deals with the Golden Knights, but the Islanders' offseason wasn't particularly inspiring as a whole. That's not bad, of course, because the team still has plenty of its own talent, but it remains to be seen whether they improved enough to make the playoffs. The big question that still remains is whether Islanders management will keep Tavares happy with a lucrative extension.
The verdict
The Islanders are hard ones to figure out -- things could swing either direction in the first full season under Weight's leadership. On one hand, the Islanders are talented enough, between Tavares, Anders Lee and up-and-comers like Ryan Pulock, to rebound from their slow 2016-17 start and make a serious push in a tough division. Eberle shouldn't be too bad with a change of scenery, and he's certainly a little more proven than Strome. Hamonic's loss might not even affect the blue line as much as some people think. And rookie Mathew Barzal could offer some offensive juice.
On the other hand, this isn't exactly a team that went above and beyond to improve its roster, and if things with Tavares don't work out as planned, the franchise will have a lot more than a return to the playoffs to worry about. Still, an improved -- and even above-average -- power play could be in store. The offense shouldn't be without life. And it's hard to imagine the team starting as slow as it did a season ago. At the very least, New York should be in the mix for a postseason spot. It just seems, with all the moving parts and Weight still taking hold on a full-time basis, that a guaranteed run through the playoffs is rather far fetched.
