After a promising start to the season, the Islanders crumbled late in the season, and ended up just about where everyone expected this young team to be at season’s end. The Isles have plenty to be happy about as they got good seasons out of their young players, and in a couple of years, if they can avoid trading away their future like they have in the past, New York’s “other team” should be back in the playoff picture.
Offense: C- John Tavares had a solid rookie season, finishing with a team-leading 54 points, and Matt Moulson turned out be a diamond in the rough, scoring 30 goals. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey also had respectable years. While the Islanders could still use some work up front, as their young core of forwards grows and continues to develop at the NHL level, this could be an elite group of scorers they’ve put together on Long Island.
Defense: D-
The Islanders gave up the 3rd most goals in the NHL this year, and playing defense like that isn’t gonna get you very far in the talented Atlantic Division. When you face Sidney Crosby, Marian Gaborik, Zach Parise and Jeff Carter six times each every year, you better have some guys on the blueline that can get the job done in their own end. Mark Streit was the only full time defenseman with an even rating, and veteran Brendan Witt managed to put up a -18 rating despite playing in only 42 games.
Goaltending: D With three pretty reliable veteran goalies on the roster, goaltending shouldn’t have been too much of a concern for the Islanders this year. Marty Biron was downright bad at times, giving up 89 goals in only 29 appearances, while Rick DiPietro got paid to play in only 8 games. The aging Dwayne Roloson had some great nights, including a 58 save performance against Toronto, but still finished the year with a GAA of 3.00.
Special Teams: F The Islanders had the 4th worst powerplay in the league, and the 2nd worst penalty kill. Only Tavares, Moulson, Okposo and Streit had more than 10 points with the man advantage. Bad penalty killing is just an indication of porous defense and inconsistent goaltending. Still, with the youth on the roster, special teams is something that can be coached, so there is hope.