The New York Islanders are watching their season fall apart. They won only four games in January, averaging 1.93 goals per game, and entered the All-Star break on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. While the Islanders won back-to-back games after the break and seemed to have turned a corner, they came crashing back to earth, losing three in a row to the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators. The recent skid makes it easy to think they won’t make the playoffs and could face a future of uncertainty in the front office, coaching staff, and on the roster.
Related: Islanders Season Has Fallen Apart – How We Got Here
It’s easy to assume that head coach Lane Lambert is in the hot seat, and recently, he looks like he’s coaching for his job; he has intensified practice, notably stopping drills and having the team do them again while also shuffling lines in the middle of games and benching players for multiple shifts. The signs of desperation from the head coach haven’t been matched by the team, an indication that he’s lost the locker room and a new coach is needed.
Lambert hasn’t had a great first season behind the bench. His line shuffling and aggressive style have both backfired. The Islanders forwards have struggled to build chemistry, while the defensemen are often caught out of position and allow easy scoring chances for the opposition.
That said, the Islanders’ issues go beyond the bench. Lambert might be coaching for his job but replacing him won’t improve a team with greater underlying problems that stem from the front office and the players.
Islanders Roster Was Built to Fail
General manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello built a roster that is led by and relies on its depth. With four reliable forward lines, three strong defensive pairings, and two starting goaltenders, the Islanders reached the Stanley Cup Semifinal in 2020 and 2021 without star power. However, the past two seasons have shown the downside of the roster build.
When a few players are injured, the team falls apart. Last season, the Islanders couldn’t recover when Ryan Pulock was out of the lineup, and then crumbled at the end of the season when Cal Clutterbuck and Scott Mayfield missed the final weeks to injury. This year, the defense dropped off when Adam Pelech missed a few weeks, while the forward unit struggled with Oliver Wahlstrom and Kyle Palmieri out of the lineup. In the 3-2 loss to the Senators on Feb. 14, the offense looked hapless outside of the top two lines when the team failed to replace third-line center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who was out with an injury.
Bo Horvat was acquired to inject life into the roster, and at first, it looked like he was just what the Islanders needed as a scoring presence with elite play across the board. Unfortunately, while the team finally has a star center, he can’t carry them to victories alone. Likewise, stars like Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, and goaltender Ilya Sorokin can’t lead them to wins, unlike other elite players in the league.
Along with depth, Lamoriello built a roster of players that fill specific roles but don’t have versatile skill sets. Anders Lee is a finisher who waits for the puck to find him in the crease or the slot. Palmieri is a sharpshooter on the wing that takes advantage of open ice in the offensive zone. Alexander Romanov, who was acquired during the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, is a hard-hitting defenseman who separates opponents from the puck and is willing to block shots. When the Islanders are healthy, they look like one of the best teams in the league, but injuries are an inevitable part of the game. Once a few players are out, the team struggles to find replacements and players who can fill different roles.
Islanders Aging Roster Needs a Change
When previous head coach Barry Trotz was fired in the offseason, Lamoriello mentioned that the team needed a new voice. The roster wasn’t the reason they missed the playoffs, it was the coach. Lambert seemed like the ideal replacement, a hire from within and a coach who understood the roster. Now, it seems that another head coach has lost the locker room. While it’s possible Lambert’s voice doesn’t work with this roster, the players are still struggling to rally behind a coach, which might be an indication that the roster is where the problems lie.
The Islanders’ lineup has become too veteran-heavy. They play down to their competition. Eventually, an aging group needs fresh faces to stay competitive. Instead of adding a younger presence or new players in the offseason, Lamoriello doubled down, keeping the team together and giving Clutterbuck and 38-year-old Zach Parise contract extensions. Clutterbuck, who is 35 years old and required surgery in the offseason, is a valued fourth-line center but is not essential to the team’s success. Still, he was brought back and is currently out of the lineup with an injury.
The teams with sustained success have shown the ability to keep a core of great players while replacing aging players with new talent. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who defeated the Islanders in the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, continuously build around their star players. In recent years, they’ve replaced Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde, and Ondrej Palat with Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul, and Ross Colton, keeping the team competitive but also having a youthful presence.
The Boston Bruins, another team with sustained success, has consistently added young talent to a star-studded roster. David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy helped turn the team around in 2017-18, while Hampus Lindholm, who was acquired at the 2022 Trade Deadline, has played a pivotal role in the team’s success this season. The Islanders have gone through minimal turnover, and now it’s coming back to haunt them.
How Will the Islanders Improve?
The big-picture answer is for the Islanders to retool, which would require them to trade Mayfield, Semyon Varlamov, and other players on expiring contracts at the trade deadline. However, this will be difficult given that the team is built to win now with only a few players they can trade while keeping their contending window open in the process. Losing Mayfield suddenly creates a void on defense and losing Varlamov would leave the team without a reliable backup, and both positions are essential for the Stanley Cup run.
On top of that, Lamoriello doesn’t trade players unless it’s for an immediate upgrade. Yes, he traded Devon Toews to the Colorado Avalanche and Nick Leddy to the Detroit Red Wings, but both moves were to open up cap space. Lamoriello won’t trade away a player for prospects or draft picks, two things the Islanders need but would signal that they are retooling or hitting the reset button. A reset is only likely to happen under a different GM, one willing to move on from the veterans to help out the roster in the long run.
The simple alternative is for the team to step up and play better. Throughout the season, they’ve shown the ability to compete with any team and, at times, have looked like an Eastern Conference juggernaut. The Islanders had great stretches early on and can easily go on a hot streak in the upcoming weeks.
It’s been a rough season. The Islanders have underachieved, but they aren’t out of the playoff picture. If they improve and start to pile up wins, they should make the playoffs. Moreover, their roster is built for a deep playoff run and even a Stanley Cup championship.
They have an experienced roster and an elite goaltender in Sorokin, who is putting together a Vezina Trophy-caliber season that no team will want to face. Likewise, the defensive unit is one of the best in the league, and Barzal is forming a unique connection with Horvat on the top line. The struggles are on full display, but the path to a turnaround is still available.