Through five games, the Islanders have done little to outrun the label that has followed them into the season: perfectly mediocre.
There have been flashes. There have also been long stretches where they’ve looked exactly average. That middle ground has left enough room for optimism, but not enough to erase the larger question hanging over this team.
If the Islanders are going to get to the playoffs, they’re not going to do it on the back of Ilya Sorokin, Matthew Schaefer and Bo Horvat alone. They’ll need help from all over the lineup. And so far, some of that help has shown up in places few would have predicted.
Ondrej Palat, after plenty of people had written him off, has given them something. Anthony Duclair has looked much more like the player they thought they were getting two years ago. Logan Stanley, who came in looking like an emergency addition, has outperformed expectations for a player who was still on the market in the final week before the season.
That’s the encouraging part.
The rest of the picture is why this team still sits in that frustratingly familiar lane. Kyle Palmieri is working his way back from ACL surgery and hasn’t quite regained his old form.
J.G. Pageau and Simon Holmstrom have not been consistent enough.
Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech haven’t looked as sharp as they did a year ago. Semyon Varlamov has appeared in just one game.
So the Islanders are where they are: not bad, not great, and just convincing enough to make you wonder, while staying inconsistent enough to keep everybody from buying in completely.
For now, that seems like their likely neighborhood.
The real question is how they move on from here - and where they end up.
In Other News...
Mathew Barzal Found Unexpected Inspiration During His Injury Comeback
Mathew Barzals road back from a knee injury has been a long one, but an unexpected moment on live television gave the Islanders forward a boost he probably did not see coming. During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Barzal was surprised by Tommy Ryan, a fan whose connection to the team and to Barzal goes back to Ryans hospitalization, when he credited the Islanders for helping him get through leukemia treatment.
The relationship has grown from there, including a previous meeting at UBS Arena, and Ryans presence clearly hit home for Barzal as he continues working his way through recovery. For a player trying to navigate the patience and grind of coming back, finding motivation in the story of a fan who drew strength from him in the first place is a reminder that these ties can run both ways. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Is Giving Islanders Fans A Massive Reason To Believe
At 19, Matthew Schaefer is already logging a workload that would be notable for a veteran, let alone a rookie defenseman. The Islanders are trusting him with 25:26 of ice time per game, and even in a role that still leaves him with limited shorthanded duty, his influence has been obvious every night hes on the ice.
The numbers back up what the eye test suggests. Schaefers underlying profile includes a 54.9% expected goals share and 3.52 expected goals for per 60 minutes, markers of a player driving play rather than just surviving it. With that kind of start, it is easy to see why the conversation around him is already stretching far beyond this season and into the kind of upside that can reshape a blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Got The Exact Boost They Needed In A Tight Win
Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders exactly the kind of lift they had been waiting for in a 3-2 win over the Canucks, scoring twice and finishing the night with the deciding goal. It was the sort of timely contribution New York needed in a tight game, and it came with the added significance of Palmieri continuing to work his way back after ACL surgery, a process the team has been watching closely.
Matias Maccelli also fit neatly into the picture, scoring his first goal as an Islander and helping create the winner after getting moved up to the top line. Head coach Pete DeBoer praised both players afterward, pointing to Palmieris return and Maccellis motivation and performance as encouraging signs for a team looking for more reliable offense when the margins are thin. [Read more 🡒]