Maybe it’s the fatigue setting in from a long day or I poisoned myself by undercooking my chicken dinner tonight, but I don’t quite see the gloom and doom that a lot of people are already putting on the Islanders for another season. They may not be a playoff team this season, but unlike a lot of teams in the NHL, the Isles are heading in the right direction with a good, young core already contributing and a few more younger players ready to join this team in future years.
First of all, the Islanders showed major improvement thanks to the debut season of John Tavares. They couldn’t do any worse than their 61 points in 2008-2009, but by picking up 79 points last year, they’re showing progression and proof that the rebuild is on the right path.
Secondly, the team is just so young that you have to expect more of these youngsters will continue to progress as opposed to hitting a wall or regressing. Of course, everyone will be looking to see how Tavares does in his second NHL season. After leading the team in points with 54, how many more can he get in his second season? The optimist will point to Steven Stamkos as proof that Tavares could do so much better in his second season. Stamkos went from 46 points in 2008 to 51 goals and 95 points last season.
The Islanders will hope to also see progression from guys like Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson, Blake Comeau and Frans Nielsen as well. You could really name half the team in this category because they are just so freakin’ young. Isles fans just have to hope that they can all keep progressing and do it at relatively the same pace.
Defensively, the Isles improved with the addition of James Wisniewski via free agency from the Anaheim Ducks. Combined with Mark Streit, the Islanders have a decent top pairing that gives a good mix of offence and defence. After the top pairing though, the Isles are really thin with the second and third pairings.
The goaltending is shaky again this season with a 1a/1b scenario looming between veteran Dwayne Roloson and former Islander poster child Rick Dipietro. Based on game performance alone, Roloson deserves the spot over Dipietro, but we all know that professional sports is never only about on-ice performance. With so much money invested in Dipietro, the Islanders will give every single chance to Dipietro to take the spot and earn his massive paycheque.
Two players to watch out for in camp are Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo. Both of them are expected to be on the top line again with John Tavares. Both are coming off of career years and Moulson came out of nowhere to be a 30-goal scorer last year. Can both of them continue to progress and can Moulson possibly match the lofty numbers that he put up last season?