2020-21
Record: 32-17-7 71 points – 4th Place in the MassMutual East Division
Playoffs: Lost to Tampa Bay in the Semi-Finals
Key Losses
F – Jordan Eberle, D – Nick Leddy, F – Michael Dal Colle
Key Additions
F – Richard Panik, F – Zach Parise, D – Zdeno Chara
Jerseys
2021-22 Preview
As the Islanders fail to make it past the third round for the second year in a row, they look to finally get over the hump and into the Stanley Cup Final, however, they didn’t really improve during the offseason. If anything they took a step back.
On defense they traded Nick Leddy to Detroit for forward Richard Panik. Leddy was hands down their best puck moving defenseman. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are both good defenseman, but they’ve never been spectacular. On any other team in the NHL they’d be third pairing defensemen and not top pair. Scott Mayfield is a slow skater and Andy Greene would be a seventh defenseman for any other team as well. The thing that saves this team defensively is their system.
On offense they kept Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac (still awaiting official announcement as of this writing on 9/4/21), and they signed Zach Parise, plus the acquisition of Panik, but they got older. Parise was bought out by Minnesota because he wasn’t producing and oft-injured. The moves they made go more for a system style than a talent style. Offensively I see this team being stunted, especially with the loss of Jordan Eberle to Seattle.
The Islanders will be a playoff team, but I don’t see them going to the promised land.
Projected Lineup
Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Kyle Palmieri
Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Zach Parise
Leo Komarov — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Richard Panik
Matt Martin — Casey Czikas — Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho — Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene — Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
