New York Islanders Scoring Struggles

New York Islanders Struggled to Score in December, Looking for Turn-Around in 2016

New York Islanders scored just 33 goals over 13 games in December, an average of 2.53 goals per game. In their previous 25 games, New York scored 72 goals, averaging 2.88 goals per game. If it weren’t for secondary scoring from bottom six forwards, that 0.35 difference would be a much larger gap. New York Islanders most productive forwards struggled immensely in December.

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Frans Nielsen and Brock Nelson led the way in goals, both scoring five in December. An unlikely candidate trailed behind the pair, NHL’s consistent hits leader, Matt Martin had four goals.

Over 13 games in December, John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, and Kyle Okposo combined for just seven goals.

After a slow-start to the last month of 2015, John Tavares began to heat up towards the end. He scored a goal, adding four assists in his last four games, bringing his season total to 14 goals and 14 assists in 35 games this season. It’s been a decent year for Johnny T in 2015-16, scoring at near point per game pace. But there’s still a lot left in the tank from one of the NHL’s top young players.

At some point, GM Garth Snow will need to address the lack of identity on his top line. For too long now, the New York Islanders player personnel is misused, misidentified, and forced to assume unrealistic roles. The reason lines are constantly being juggled is because Tavares is the only true top liner in New York.

Kyle Okposo, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen, and Brock Nelson are all second line forwards, with a few worthy of asterisks as a 1A type forward that can fill in temporarily. When you’ve got a cast of 1A forwards, you tend to see this line juggle carousel as a coach searches for chemistry.

The New York Islanders still need to decide whether they plan on extending Kyle Okposo, because if not, he would make a valuable trade rental. A hefty draft pick, and many years are invested in Okposo, so it would make little sense to roll the dice, and risk letting him walk into free agency for nothing.

Emerging over the past couple seasons as a threat in the Eastern Conference, the New York Islanders look poised to follow the footsteps of other franchises such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Tampa Bay. Like those other teams, the Islanders are following the draft and develop model, and have several promising prospects. Up front, Michael Dal Colle, Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal, and Josh Ho-Sang highlight a cast of talented Islanders prospects. On the back-end, Ryan Pulock is a promising defender, while goaltender Ilya Sorokin is dominating the KHL this season.

With a wealth of talented prospects, and so much uncertainty on the top-line, perhaps GM Garth Snow would be wise to explore trade options, in order to add at least one big piece. John Tavares is one of the NHL’s biggest superstars, so it would be a shame to waste his prime years on a carousel of second line forwards.

Next: New Year's Resolution For All 30 Teams

New York Islanders sit 2nd in the Metropolitan Division at 21-12-5 with 47 points. Their next game is tonight (Jan.2) versus Pittsburgh at the CONSOL Energy Center. It sounds as though Jaroslav Halak should be coming off the IR very soon, although Thomas Greiss is playing excellent in his absence. January is a light month, only 10 games on the schedule for New York, seven at home, three on the road.

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