32 for 32: Analysis of the New York Islanders

As part of the 32 for 32 series, NHL.com offers analysis of each of the 32 teams between August 1 and September 1. Today, the New York Islanders.

The New Yorkers have added a couple of pieces to give themselves another chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Anthony Duclair (four-year contract July 1) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) forward Maxim Tsyplakov (one-year contract May 16) were signed to help an offense that generated 2.99 goals per game (22nd in the NHL) last season and who only scored 12 when they were eliminated in five games at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Eastern Conference. Patrick Roy, who will lead his first training camp as Islanders head coach. .

The Islanders know they have to lose the reputation of a just-good-enough team in the first round of the playoffs.

“Obviously the playoffs are the biggest factor in a team’s success, that’s what we’re aiming for,” assistant general manager Chris Lamoriello said. “Our goal was to stabilize what Patrick started to build here, things that allowed us to reach the playoffs at the end of the season, and progress from there.

“We’ve been fortunate to have long playoff runs in the past. We want to repeat this experience. This is our goal. »

Roy replaced Lane Lambert on Jan. 20, when New York was 19-15-11 and laughed off a streak of 2-6-2 in 10 games and 5-8-4 the previous month. The Islanders lost six games in a row (0-5-1) between March 11-21, and needed an 8-0-1 late-season surge to move into third place in the Metropolitan division. The Islanders allowed 2.89 goals per game after Roy was hired (1.89 goals per game in that nine-game point streak at the end of the season), compared to 3.36 before he arrived behind the plate. a mountain

Roy is the first coach to join the Islanders in the middle of a season that will advance to the playoffs, another achievement for the former player and Hockey Hall of Famer. Roy also won the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded annually as coach of the year, in 2014 after leading the Colorado Avalanche to 52 wins and 112 points in his first season as an NHL head coach, and led the Quebec Remparts of the Maritimes Quebec. Junior Hockey League to two Memorial Cup victories (2006, 2023).

His next challenge will be rediscovering the formula for this long playoff run that has eluded the Islanders from two appearances in the Stanley Cup semifinals in 2020 and 2021.

“He’s open and honest, and he believes in our organization,” Lee said of Roy. “He brings a lot of energy that he brings, as well as his great experience, which comes not only from his playing career, but also from his career as a coach.

Those qualities helped convince Duke to join his eighth different team in 10 seasons. He is expected to play left wing on a top line with Horvat and Mathew Barzal after averaging 27.5 goals over his last two full seasons, including a career-high 31 goals with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. He will be reunited with the coach who coached him in the minors, and could provide a boost to the Islanders’ 5-on-5 and power play attack, which finished the regular season down in the 19th place (20.4 percent).

Duclair collected 116 points (51 goals, 65 assists) in 118 games with the Remparts between 2011 and 2013, as well as 50 goals and 99 points in the season after Roy left for Colorado.

“When your coach calls you and tells you he wants you on his team, it’s hard to say no, especially when he’s someone you respect a lot,” Duclair said on July 2.

Tsyplakov, who turns 26 on September 19, set KHL career marks in goals (31), assists (16) and points (47) for Spartak Moscow last season, and could start the his first training camp with Nelson and Palmieri. Barzal, who moved from center to wing, has 80 points (23 goals, 57 assists) in as many games in 2023-24. Noah Dobson (10 goals, 60 assists) will lead a defensive group that should play better in front of goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield are healthy, the latter recovering from surgery to repair a lower-body injury that limited him to 41 games last season (none after Feb. 22) .

There will be competition for positions on the bottom two lines, as “Identity Line” forwards Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck remain unrestricted free agents.

The core of the team, however, remains intact. Potential improvements are in place, and Roy is well established at the helm.

“It all started this summer,” Lee said. Our group did not finish where we would have liked to finish. We have an opportunity to go into camp, get our game back and play our best hockey early in the season. If we can avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we have to go 8-0-1 to make the playoffs, we can take our game to the next level during the regular season. »