A month into the 2026-2027 NHL season, the New York Islanders are sitting in a spot that feels equal parts encouraging and frustrating. At 7-5-2, they’re 11th in the Eastern Conference, and the first 14 games have already delivered a little of everything: some solid stretches, some rough ones, and a whole lot that the team simply couldn’t control.
The biggest problem has been the injury pileup, and it hit early. Alexander Romanov’s knee injury will keep him out for the rest of the year, while the Islanders are still waiting for answers on Mat Barzal. Romanov was supposed to help after missing time last season, and Barzal remains a central piece of everything the Islanders want to do.
The list only got longer from there. Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie were both added to the injury report later in the month. Maccelli is expected to remain out until at least mid-November, and Ritchie is listed as out until at least December 1st.
Those absences have touched every part of the lineup. The Islanders have been hit at center, on defense, and on the wing.
And the blue line took another blow when Ryan Pulock left the recent win in Minnesota. He’s currently scheduled to be out until at least November 28th.
There’s only so much the Islanders can do with that kind of damage. If the answer isn’t going to come from modern science, then it has to come from Hamilton or from the way the team is being coached - or possibly through trades, with some intriguing options out there.
Peter DeBoer has already shown he’s willing to experiment. In the win over Nashville, he rolled with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, a setup he used to try to squeeze more production out of his lines.
Explaining that choice, DeBoer said, “ We do need some more out of the depth of our lineup, though. I think our fourth line's underlying numbers haven't been good”.
That willingness to adjust matters, because if the Islanders are going to survive this stretch, flexibility may be their best weapon.
In Other News...
Islanders Have A Real Shot At A Young Forward They Wanted
Brad Lambert is suddenly available, and the Islanders have reason to pay close attention. The Jets placed the young forward on waivers, putting a once-promising first-round talent within reach for any club willing to take a chance on his upside. Lambert has spent parts of three NHL seasons trying to carve out a larger role, but his production has been limited, and he is now in the final year of his entry-level contract.
For the Islanders, this is the kind of low-cost swing that can make sense if they want to keep adding speed and skill to the organization. They had shown interest in Lambert before, so the fit is not hard to imagine, but waiver claims are rarely straightforward. Even with a player they have already eyed, the Islanders may have to wait and see how the rest of the league responds before they get their turn. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Suddenly Have A Real Shot At A Superstar This Summer
The Islanders are heading into the summer with real flexibility, and that alone changes the conversation around how aggressive they can be in reshaping the roster. Expiring contracts and a projected cap increase have opened the door for general manager Mathieu Darche to think bigger than the usual bargain-bin fixes, especially with his background and connections around the league giving him a wider range of possibilities.
One name already surfacing in insider chatter is a major one, and the appeal is obvious given Darches past working relationship with him. Tampa Bay has made it clear it does not intend to move its star, so any path for New York would have to come through free agency rather than a trade market that appears closed off for now. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Suddenly Face A Kucherov Question That Could Split Fans
The idea of Nikita Kucherov landing on Long Island is the kind of possibility that can instantly split a fan base, because the fit is obvious even if the price is not. A player of his caliber would change the look of the Islanders offense and give their power play a jolt, which is exactly the sort of swing move teams around the league dream about when the trade market starts to heat up.
Still, the path to making something like that happen is where the conversation gets complicated for New York. The Islanders are already navigating several key injuries, and any serious pursuit would likely mean parting with a meaningful package of draft picks, prospects and maybe even roster players, which makes the debate as much about timing and depth as it is about talent. [Read more 🡒]