2014-2015 Season Preview- New York Islanders
By Mike Vecchio
Every year, one of hockey’s greatest rivalries is renewed when the New York Rangers and New York Islanders do battle on the ice. With some of the most exciting games of the year, the Rangers and Islanders always put on a great show which is well worth the price of admission. Historically, the Rangers have been the more successful team in the rivalry, going 120-108-19 against the Islanders in the season series, but don’t let the record fool you. The Islanders have always given the Rangers a run for their money, no matter what their regular season record is. However, for the upcoming season, the Islanders made a few key signings which could help their team make tremendous strides this season. After not making the playoffs last season, the Islanders will be sure to have their eyes set on the post-season, even if that means going through the Rangers to get there.
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Eyes On Isles
The biggest factor in the Islanders post-season chances is a healthy John Tavares. The former first overall pick in 2009 broke into the league and immediately showed that he deserved to be here. In his first season, he produced 54 points in 82 games. He continued to develop into a point a game player, and is not one of the top players in the league. On his right wing is talented player Kyle Okposo. After showing solid numbers for the first few seasons of his career, Okposo was expected to be announced as a participant for the US national team for the Olympics in Sochi. However, when the team was announced, Okposo was cut from the team. After seeing fans were upset at the decision, Okposo took over for the injured John Tavares and became the Islanders leading scorer with 69 points. Now, with a healthy Tavares at center, look for Okposo to have an even better season on the wing. With new players Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin coming in this season, those two will most likely be competing against each other for the first line left wing spot alongside Tavares and Okposo. However, they are not first line players, so the Islanders will likely suffer in that area. Unless they can convert Frans Nielsen to a top line left wing instead of a second line center, then they will likely suffer in that area.
The biggest question mark for the Islanders for the upcoming year is on defense. Without a true number one defenseman, they can’t expect to keep other teams’ top players from scoring goals. Their probable number one pair on defense is Lubomir Visnovsky paired with Travis Hamonic. Hamonic is a good young defenseman expected to keep growing over the next few years, but Visnovsky is 38 years of age. Their next option to replace Visnovsky is youngster Calvin De Haan, but he does not have enough experience to play first line minutes just yet. Other players like Thomas Hickey and Matt Carkner are no more than second or third pair defensemen, so the Islanders clearly need a top two shutdown defenseman to keep goals out of the net. Without it, their new goaltender will have a very heavy workload.
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The area where the Islanders improved most during the offseason was the goaltending position. On May 1st, the Islanders traded a fourth round pick to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Jaroslav Halak. Halak was best known for his days in Montreal and St. Louis, where he even led the Canadiens to the Conference Final with his stellar playoff performance back in 2010. He then signed a four year deal worth $18 million, which gives the Islanders a good goaltender for the next few years. Even though Halak is more than capable to keep pucks out of the net, he will need help from his defensive core as well. Without it, Halak might not have that great of a time in New York.
So, with all of that in mind, the Islanders will have a somewhat better season, but will not make the playoffs. Even though they will have Tavares back and a good goaltender in Halak, they don’t have the depth goal scoring or the depth at defense that other teams do. Also, their rookies may need to step up in order to help out the team, and they are not ready to take on those roles. Sure, they have Ryan Strome and Michael Dal Colle who can put up points, but not at the level that the Islanders need to successful.
Prediction: 6th in the Metropolitan Division