Will the New York Rangers be better than the Devils or Islanders in 2019-20?

New York Islanders

Moving on to the New York Islanders now who, despite surprising the vast majority of hockey experts and fans alike by finishing with a 48-27-7 record on their way to making it to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, will enter 2019-20 with plenty of question marks.

For starters, they didn’t really get better this off-season and you could argue that they even got weaker after losing Bill Masterton Trophy and Williams M. Jennings Trophy winner Robin Lehner to the Chicago Blackhawks in free agency. That was a huge blow to the Isles given how impressive Lehner was last year, going 25-13 with a 2.13 goals against average and a .930 save percentage.

While they did retain Thomas Greiss who split goaltending duties with Lehner, they replaced their better goaltender with Semyon Varlamov who was let go by the Avalanche after an average year. Varlamov is a solid NHL goalie but is he capable of backstopping a team to postseason success? The jury is very much out on that.

Another caveat at play here is the fact that they are paying Johnny Boychuk $6,000,000 a year through 2021-22, which makes the 35-year-old the highest-paid defenseman on the roster. That in itself is a problem, but that contract could become an albatross around the Isles’ neck when you consider that Boychuk is showing clear signs of regression coupled with the fact that he’s missed a lot of time over the past few years.

The Islanders did re-sign forwards Jordan Eberle to a five-year deal, Brock Nelson to a six-year contract and captain Anders Lee to a seven-year deal.  They failed to add more firepower to their roster which could be a grave mistake given that they ranked 22nd in Goals For Per Game with a 2.72 percentage, just one spot above the Rangers.

On the flip side, their biggest strength is their blueline unit which boasts the likes of Devon Toews, Ryan Pulock, Nick Leddy and Scott Mayfield. However, they thrive as a collective rather than rely on any standout individual, and they truly excelled under head coach Barry Trotz who is known for his approach when it comes to making sure his teams are structurally sound and extremely disciplined. That is perfectly illustrated by the fact that the Islanders had the best defensive record in the entire NHL last year, letting in just 2.33 Goals Per Game.

However, while they should still shutout teams defensively in 2019-20, the Islanders are lacking in firepower and that could hurt them this year. Their weapons look insignificant compared to what the Rangers now pack, and that could result in the Blueshirts going toe-to-toe and then overtaking their rivals.