Record - 37-35-10 (84 points), 5th in the Metropolitan Division
Goals For: 231 (24th in the NHL), Goals Against: 237 (10th in the NHL)
Leading Goal Scorer - Brock Nelson (37)
Leading Point Scorer - Brock Nelson & Mat Barzal (59)
The New York Islanders entered last year having made the postseason in three consecutive seasons, the longest stretch of playoff appearances in over 30 years. In fact, they made back to back Conference Finals appearances coming within one goal of taking down the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. Coming off of those runs, many believed (myself included) that the Isles were right on the doorstep of being crowned hockey royalty. We were all wrong. By the time April and May rolled around, the Islanders were on the outside looking in for the first time under coach Barry Trotz.
The team undoubtedly had a run of bad luck early on that had them playing catch up for a majority of the season. They started off with a brutal 13 game road trip due to the construction of their new home, UBS Arena, being finalized. They went 5-6-2 during that stretch which isn't catastrophic by any means. Towards the tail end of the trip, however, is where things really took a turn for the worse. The team had a massive COVID outbreak where nearly half of the lineup came down with the virus. They went 11 games without a win, putting them in dead last in the division just 6 weeks into the season. Earlier that month, the NHL had stepped in postponed games for the Ottawa Senators due to an outbreak, but did nothing for the Islanders until it was too late. By the time the NHL postponed games for the Isles, a bunch of their players were ready to play again. A huge mishandling of the situation on the NHL's part, especially with there not being a clear threshold of what qualifies for postponement. By the time the Isles started playing their true brand of hockey again it was too little too late.
They kept themselves in most of the games last season, something we're used to seeing under the Trotz system. But, unlike what we've seen from them while playing for Trotz, they were behind in many of those games and needed goals down the stretch. The team was among the lowest in come from behind wins in 2022 with just 10. Their inability to score is something that cost them in their three previous playoff runs, and it ended up costing them a good chunk of their games this year. With just two players scoring over 20 goals, there just wasn't enough offense in their lineup to put them over the top in these tight contests.
Even though the season was far from a success, I don't think it was reason enough to fire your head coach before the final year of his contract. Just 10 days after the season ended, GM Lou Lamoriello fired Barry Trotz completely out of left field. He was awfully vague when asked for his reasoning, and didn't give much detail discussing the thought process that went into the decision. This isn't something that we haven't seen before. In two separate instances when he was the GM of the Devils, Lou fired coaches who had already clinched a playoff spot. He even took over the HC job when he fired Claude Julien back in 2007. When the Trotz news of dropped, everyone was as flabbergasted as they were confused. I mean honestly, how do you fire a head coach who has brought more success to your organization than anyone else has in the past three decades? When you consider that, along with the circumstances they faced early on last season that were out of their control, it makes even less sense.
Months have passed since the firing, and I still can't grasp the thinking behind it. If it had to do with his defense first system, I'd somewhat understand it. There is a bunch of talent on this team that has been held back offensively during Trotz's run as coach. But if that's the reason, then why would Lou go ahead and hire his long time assistant coach to replace him? A week after Trotz was let go his right hand man for the past 11 years, Lane Lambert, was hired to take his place. Having coached with him for such a long time with multiple organizations, I'm sure there's many similarities in his style and philosophy. So again I ask with that in mind, why fire Barry Trotz? Was there friction between his relationship with the front office that we don't know about? Did he simply not want to coach anymore, but rather take some time to figure out what the next chapter is? Or is this just Lou being Lou? Given his history as an executive in this league, I'm thinking it's the latter.
Once the coaching change happened, I had a feeling that the Isles were going to be very active during the offseason. Whether it be going after Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, or any one of the other UFAs that were available, I thought that Lou had some trick up his sleeve. They didn't sign anyone. Not a single notable signing. Outside of resigning a number of guys currently on the roster, the only thing Lou did was trade their 2022 first round draft pick to the Canadiens in exchange for their young, up and coming defenseman, Alexander Romanov. He's someone with a lot of potential, but after making such a sudden coaching change one would think Lou was going to shake things up a little bit more than bringing in a defenseman who's yet to prove himself.
Luckily for the Islanders, they didn't really need to do much in terms of their roster. They still have a very good team. On the older side yes, but a very good team nonetheless. They have to open things up offensively, though. Their current system just doesn't win you Cups in today's NHL. To win in this league in this era, it is imperative to be a team that can consistently put the puck in the net. Since 2010, there have only been two years where that season's champion was outside of the leagues top 20 in goals for (the King's in 2012 and 2014). It doesn't matter how good of a team you are defensively, if you can't find ways to score in key situations you won't win championships. Step one in scoring more goals is letting Mat Barzal loose. He's a 100 point talent that has only put up around 60 points per season under Trotz. Lambert needs to give Barzy the offensive freedom that his predecessor failed to do. He's in a contract year, so you know he wants to have a monster season to get as much money as possible. You get him to produce more, then the players that surround him will in turn produce more. It's that simple.
I'm realizing as I write this that the Islanders are first team I've covered so far that is actually a potential contender. Last year was a fluke for them, and I believe that they will be much better this year. It's essentially the same team as when they went to back to back conference finals. They have a top 5 goalie in the NHL in Ilya Sorokin. They have a great top 4 on defense in Romanov, Noah Dobson, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pullock. They have plenty of strength up front with four balanced lines. Because of this, I do believe that they will get back into playoffs this year. I just don't see them making another deep run. They're more than capable of beating any team in the East in a 7 game series, but again it comes down to scoring. If they end up having to come back in a lot of their games, I can't trust that they'll be able to get that much needed goal. They have to find a way to get everyone involved offensively, the same way in which everyone is involved defensively. If they can do that while playing the same suffocating style of defense then, and only then, will this team contend for a Stanley Cup. It's something they'll need to figure out quickly, though. They're one of the oldest teams in the league, and that window is slowly but surely closing on them.
Comments