New York Islanders

With very little roster turnover from 2014, the 2015 New York Islanders aim to rock the Barclays Center and prove to the Metro Division that they aren’t just a fringe playoff team. The only big new developments the fans seem to care about are the new arena, the new jerseys, and the new CEO (looking at you, Brett Yormark). The lack …

5. Clark Gillies provided a physical and offensive presence for the Islanders dynasty teams.  Gillies notched 319 goals, 378 assists, and 1023 penalty minutes and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002. He scored over 30 goals for four straight seasons as part of the Trio Grande line which was made up of Gillies, Bossy, and Trottier. Gillies …

PLAYER POS TEAM AGE YRS DOLLARS AVERAGE FREE AGENT John Tavares (2012-2017) C NYI 24 6 $33,000,000 $5,500,000 2018 Travis Hamonic (2013-2019) D NYI 24 7 $27,000,000 $3,857,143 2020 Mikhail Grabovski (2014-2017) C NYI 30 4 $20,000,000 $5,000,000 2018 Jaroslav Halak (2014-2017) G NYI 29 4 $18,000,000 $4,500,000 2018 Nikolai Kulemin (2014-2017) LW NYI 0 4 $16,750,000 $4,187,500 2018 Josh Bailey (2013-2017) LW NYI 25 5 …

NYI 5 @ Carolina 3 Carolina 3 vs. NYI 5 The first two games of the Islanders season could not have gone better (well the Rangers could have lost all three of their games, but oh well). Two games, two wins. Albeit we were up against a weak Hurricanes team who for some reason decided to play Cam Ward in …

Goaltending From Russia with Glove is gone (Evgeni Nabokov) and so too is the platoon of Poulin and Nilsson’s and their combined .893 save percentage. In their stead is Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson. Both huge upgrades over the aging Nabokov and pylons that were Poulin and Nilsson (seriously I cannot get over how bad they were). However, there are …

Johnny Boychuk (!!!) and Nick Leddy are Islanders after Saturday’s trade that sent a bunch of garbage minor leaguers, 2nd round draft picks and the rights (?) to Anders Nillson packing. If you want the full trade scope go here. Garth Snow did an admirable job solidifying his offense and defense this summer. Discussed in my preview of the Islanders, …

We’re one week in to free agency, and the first two days certainly provided a flurry of activity. Things have cooled off drastically in the transaction department since then (with arbitration rulings in the not too distant future), but there are still plenty of free agents remaining. Teams around the NHL still have holes to fill, and the New York …

Perhaps the most anticipated trade of the day, the announcement has finally come that veteran forward Thomas Vanek has indeed been traded. The goal-scoring forward, taken 5th overall in the 2013 NHL draft has scored 17 goals and 44 points in 47 contests this season with the lowly New York Islanders. His contract expires at the end of this season …

Prior to the start of the 2013-2014 season, I focused on 5 key areas where the New York Islanders would need to be successful in order to make a consecutive trip to the playoffs.  Goaltending, secondary scoring, youth development, & schedule were the main areas of concern.  Let’s revisit and see how the Isles performed through the first half of …

New York Islander fans enter Saturday’s game (12/28) against the New Jersey Devils with a cautious optimism.  Coming off a 3-0 shutout at Detroit earlier in the week, the team had one of their best games in recent memory.  Since their shootout win over the Sharks on December 10th, a game that ended a dreadful 10 game losing streak, the Islanders’ squad has more closely resembled …

An independent variable is an entity whose presence determines the change in a dependent variable.  In the world of math and science, an independent variable is something you have control over, something you can choose and manipulate.  Unfortunately for Islanders’ head coach Jack Capuano, this is the concept that is going to cost him his job. The New York Islanders …

Over the past few NHL seasons, the New York Islanders have been a team on a limited budget. They have made calculated, cost efficient roster transactions that have rarely made the headlines.  Draft and development has become the motto of the organization as they continue to acquire key players through the draft from Ryan Strome to Ryan Pulock.  With that …

The Islanders are going through a rough slump.  In fact, they’ve been pretty terrible for a few weeks.  You can look at almost every aspect of the team right now and find something to improve on.  Instead of running through the laundry list of “have tos” that the team needs to achieve, let’s focus on one aspect of their play …

The New York Islanders have acquired Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st round pick, and a 2015 second round pick. Moulson, who turns 30 on next month, has a total of 233 points in 333 career NHL game, with all but 10 of those points coming with the Islanders.  The 4 year …

“Maybe the Islanders aren’t as deep as we thought… It took 7 and a half games to come to light, but midway through the second period of the Islanders 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the “deepest” Islanders team in recent memory was looking paper thin.  With Lubomir Visnovsky already exiting the game in the first period with a concussion, …