The New York Islanders have struggled in all areas over the past few seasons. The offense is not there, the defense is average, and the goaltending is slightly better. GM Mathieu Darche did nothing to improve the team over the summer. In fact, they may be worse, With more questions than answers, the Islanders are hopeful they can squeak into the playoffs. However, with little offense aside from the top line, do they have a chance?
Can special teams improve?
The penalty kill and power play for the Islanders were awful last season. Both ranked 31st in the league with the power play operating at a 12.6% success rate and the penalty kill killing off only 72.2% of the penalties. Overall they killed off 130 penalties last season which was most in the league. Under head coach Patrick Roy, they operated a more aggressive style of penalty kill which slightly raised their kill numbers. They have no place to go but up.
On the power play, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee scored five power play goals each to lead the team. Defenseman Noah Dobson led the team with 11 power play assists but he has since been traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Emil Heineman. Roy may instill a new way of getting more scoring chances which should lead to more goals on the man advantage.
Where will the offense come from?
Dobson is gone to Montreal. Brock Nelson is now with the Colorado Avalanche, Two big offensive weapons are not in New York anymore, leaving a big hole. Bo Horvat led the team last season with only 57 points, followed by Lee with 54 points. A bull season of Matt Barzal will help as he played only 30 games last season. Anthony Duclair, Ryan Pulock, Maxim Tsyplakov, and newcomer Heineman will need to step up for the offense to become average.
Last season, the Islanders averaged 2.71 goals per game and scored only 222 goals all season. Darche did nothing to boost this offense so they will have to go with what they have on the roster. For them to sniff the playoffs a few players will need to have career years offensively. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer may inject new life into the lineup if he makes the team.
Is Rittich an upgrade over Varlamov?
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin is the starter with no competition behind him. Last season, the backup goaltender spot was occupied by Semyon Varlamov but he is coming off of knee surgery and there is no timetable for his return. Goaltender Marcus Hogberg was sent down to the Bridgeport Tigers of the American Hockey League (AHL) so his services are not needed at this time.
By process of elimination, the backup spot goes to newcomer David Rittich. Rittich comes over from the Los Angeles Kings, where he went 18-14-2 with a 2.84 goals against average and an .887 save percentage. Varlamov posted similar numbers last season as he posted a record of 3-4-3 with a 2.89 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. Rittich is not a big upgrade but he is what is left to start the season. Sorokin will get a bulk of the starts so Rittich may see 20 games, so he will need to be better than a .500 goaltender for the Islanders to get into the wild card talk. Rittich is not in an unfamiliar spot as he has seen the backup spot for the majority of his career, He needs to perform above expectations this season for a team that scores few goals.
Unless Darche bring sin top six talent for more offense the Islanders are likely to be in the same spot this season. New York is solid defensively but if they cannot get the offense going they have no shot to make the playoffs. Big changes are needed for a team that lacks offense.