The National Hockey League (NHL) starts the 2021/2022 season on October 12th. If Tampa manages the “three peat”, what can you expect from the new franchise from Seattle? In the annual preview series is advancing Hockey-News.info focus on a different team every day.
The 78-year-old Lou Lamoriello has been General Manager of the New York Islanders since the 2018/19 season. His first coup was the engagement of the master coach at the time, Barry Pots. Many did not understand why Defiance left the Washington Capitals and joined the hitherto unsuccessful New York Islanders. But lo and behold, since the two of them took over the helm, things are back on the Isles. In the past two seasons, the conference finals were reached and those in charge in New York obviously don’t want to be satisfied with that.
| New York Islanders Infobox | |
|---|---|
| Additions: | Zdeno Chara, Zach Parise, Richard Panik |
| Departures: | Nick Leddy, Jordan Eberle, Andrew Ladd, Travis Zajac |
| 2021 1st Round Pick: | – |
| Top 3 Prospects: | Aatu Räty, Samuel Bolduc, Robin Salo |
Especially on the offensive, the Islanders are very well cast, not only in terms of quality, but also in depth. With the departure of John Tavares, there was room for Matt Barzal as the first-line center. The now 24-year-old Canadian was able to assert himself there with appealing performances. He may not be able to regularly finish a season with one point per game, but at the Isles the star is the team and not the individual player anyway. Barzal is considered a very small and agile playmaker who is difficult to separate from the disc, and he also has the speed necessary to make the life of the opposing defenders a little more difficult. He is assisted by Captain Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri, who made the way from New Jersey to New York for the trade deadline last season.
Matt Barzal is the Islanders’ offensive leader! (c) Michael Miller (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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In the second line, Anthony Beauvillier is placed on the left wing, who has improved year after year and thus secured a place in the top six. Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey are already considered Isles veterans and will continue to form the second row in the coming season. Row three is extremely interesting. With center Jean-Gabriel Pageau you have a complete center forward who can be brought onto the ice in almost any situation. He has scoring potential without forgetting the defensive and he also brings toughness into the game. The young Swede Oliver Wahlström will probably be deployed on his right. In 2018 he was drafted by the Islanders in the first round and was then referred to as the “natural goal scorer”. He has not yet lived up to this reputation, but he is still very young and will definitely improve.
He should also benefit from the signing of Zach Parise. The now 37-year-old American joined the Isles in the off-season after having been active in Minnesota for the last nine years. Even if his best times are over, his experience can help players like Oliver Wahlström. Row four will remain unchanged for years. Probably the toughest line in the league is formed by Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck. A line that nobody likes to play against, as almost every shift is painful. All in all, the Islanders have a very interesting storm with a good mix of experience, toughness, skill and talent.
| New York Islanders Lineup | ||
|---|---|---|
| striker | ||
| Anders Lee | Mathew Barzal | Kyle Palmieri |
| Anthony Beauvillier | Brock Nelson | Josh Bailey |
| Zach Parise / Richard Panik | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Oliver Wahlstrom |
| Matt Martin | Casey Cizikas | Cal Clutterbuck |
| defender | goalkeeper | |
| Adam Pelech | Ryan Pulock | Semyon Varlamov |
| Andy Greene | Noah Dobson | Ilya Sorokin |
| Zdeno Chara | Scott Mayfield | |
The team from Long Island has been considered a defensively compact team for some time. Here, too, there is a lack of superstars such as Viktor Hedman or Cale Makar. But very few mistakes happen to the Isles back line. This is mainly due to the consistency and “simple” style of play of Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield. These three Defenders are likely to remain at the core of the defense in the future. In addition, Andy Greene (38 years old) and Zdeno Chara (44 years old) brought a lot of NHL experience to New York. For Chara is a return to his old place of work, because he made his debut in the NHL in the dress of the Islanders. This debut was in 1997, so 24 years ago.
Zdeno Chara is back where it all started! (c) Lisa Gansky (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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The youngest man on the defensive is Noah Dobson. Like Wahlström, he was drafted in the first round in 2018 and is considered a compact two-way defender. He is entering his last year of the so-called entry-level contract and is therefore still at the beginning of his career. The defense plays hard and uncompromisingly, without doing any great magic. However, one will have to wait and see to what extent the times of Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara are over. But you are also equipped for this, because the Isles can still offer the two Swedes Sebastian Aho and Erik Gustafsson as back-up solutions.
The showpiece of the New York Islanders is without a doubt the goalkeeper position. The Russian tandem consisting of Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin is one of the best duos in the entire league. It will be interesting to see whether Varlamov can assert himself as the clear number one or whether Sorokin, who is seven years his junior, will overtake him. The most likely variant will be that both goalies will get almost the same number of starts and will probably push each other even further.
Hockey-News Projection: The Metropolitan Division is by far the hardest to play division of the coming season. The performances of the last few years give reason for hope, not just about making it into the play-offs, with the Islanders the gaze is certainly also directed towards the ultimate goal. The Islanders have the biggest trump card behind the gang. Barry Despite is currently one of the best coaches in the league and will continue to lead the Islanders into the post-season in the 2021/22 season.
www.hockey-news.info, Image: Michael Miller (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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