The state of the hockey world in New York is a mess. The Islanders are struggling, the Rangers are in complete turmoil, and the Buffalo Sabres remain the Buffalo Sabres. All this while the New Jersey Devils lead the Metropolitan Division, so it is a sad time to be a hockey fan in our great state. This leads to the obvious question: Which of the three teams based in the Empire State have it the worst?
Let's start with our Blueshirts. Three wins since the team departed Vancouver has left this organization scrambling and searching for answers. Selling off Kaapo Kakko and Jacob Trouba during the ongoing struggles, Chris Drury's memo has listed players like Chris Kreider on the trade block, meaning this will get worse for the Blueshirts. However, those three wins mean things can get worse, and we'll get to a team that's got it worse than the Rangers do now.
When we look across the river to the Islanders, it's not much better for Patrick Roy's hockey club. The Isles are 4-4-2 in the last 10, which puts them in a better position than the Rangers, but they still sit plum last in the Metropolitan. The third worst team in the Eastern Conference, the Islanders aren't having fun. Things are not going well for either team in New York City, and the Islanders' issues continue to grow.
If you thought these two teams were terrible, we need to look to the team in Northern New York. Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs since the release of the iPhone 4, which is pretty bad, but this year, the Sabres continue to struggle. They're 0-8-3 in their last 11, and it's getting worse. Their previous 11 games make the Rangers look good, which is some achievement. Buffalo is back in the doldrums, struggling for respectability.
The hockey landscape in New York is impoverished. The Islanders have probably the happiest fanbase of the three at this moment. However, they're the third-worst team in the Eastern Conference and the happiest team in the state, highlighting the problems with both the Sabres and the Rangers. All three teams will be sellers when the deadline rolls around, and the state of New York continues to look for answers regarding its three franchises. As the old saying goes, at least they are not the Sabres.