The New York Islanders are heading toward a season that already feels loaded with pressure, and Mathew Barzal sits right at the center of it.
The club has spent the last year making aggressive moves to strengthen the roster, but those additions still weren’t enough to push the Islanders into the playoffs. Now the organization is banking on Peter DeBoer to help change the direction of the team.
That hire matters, but it won’t be enough on its own. If the Islanders are going to turn a disappointing miss into something more dangerous, their best players have to carry the load - and Barzal is the biggest piece of that puzzle.
Barzal’s track record gives the Islanders reason to believe, but it also shows why the bar is higher now. After putting up 22 goals and 85 points in his first full season, he looked ready to take another leap when he scored 23 goals and 80 points in 2023-24.
Then came an injury-hit 2024-25 that limited him to just 30 games. He rebounded last season with 19 goals and 72 points in 81 games, but that kind of production won’t be enough if the Islanders want to become a real contender.
What they need is the version of Barzal who can take over stretches of games and tilt a playoff series. That’s the player who was so important during the Islanders’ back-to-back Eastern Conference Final runs in the COVID-era postseason.
He produced 17 points in 22 games in 2020, then followed it with 14 points in 19 games in 2021. That’s the level the Islanders are chasing again.
There’s also a leadership piece to this that matters even more now. Anders Lee’s departure has opened up a void in the room, and while Bo Horvat and Brayden Schenn are former NHL captains who can help fill it, the Islanders still need Barzal to set the tone in his own way.
He may not be the loudest voice, but the team needs his example to carry weight. He already wears a letter, and with Lee now in Utah, the responsibility on Barzal grows. If he can stay healthy, produce at a high level, and embrace that role, the Islanders have a chance to settle into this new era under DeBoer with real momentum.
That’s the bet now. The Islanders made a major move by bringing in an elite coach.
The next step has to come from inside the room, and it starts with Barzal. If he looks like the player who powered those deep playoff runs, the Islanders could be positioned to challenge the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metro Division.
In Other News...
Islanders May Be Waiting Too Long To Trade One Veteran Center
The Islanders have spent the offseason weighing how to squeeze more flexibility out of a roster that still has a few useful veterans attached to meaningful cap hits, and the conversation around Jean-Gabriel Pageau fits right into that larger puzzle. His recent performance and the likelihood of a reduced role have made him a logical name to watch, especially for a team trying to balance present competitiveness with a cleaner path forward.
What makes the timing interesting is that the market may be friendlier now than it will be later, when a player with his profile is more clearly slotted into a smaller role. If New York decides to act while there is still demand, the payoff could be more than just financial breathing room, with the chance to add future assets and give the front office more room to maneuver as it reshapes the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Pete DeBoer Just Named The Islanders' Path Back To The Playoffs
Pete DeBoer did not spend much time sugarcoating the Islanders path back to relevance. In a TSN interview, the new head coach pointed to two areas that have to improve if the club is going to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs: a power play that lagged badly last season and a defensive structure that allowed too many dangerous looks against.
For DeBoer, the encouraging part is that neither problem feels permanent if the roster is right and the details sharpen up. He said quick turnarounds are possible in the NHL, and from the Islanders perspective that matters because last seasons miss was not framed as a talent shortage so much as a team that left too much on the table in the key moments that decide games. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Interest In Patrik Laine Says Plenty About Their Offseason
Patrik Laines unsigned status has become one of the more notable offseason lingerers, and the Islanders name surfacing in the conversation says plenty about how teams are weighing his fit. A fully healthy Laine still brings obvious upside, especially on the power play, where his finishing ability can change the look of a unit in a hurry. But with the market slow to develop and only a few clubs even loosely tied to him, the question has shifted from talent to how much a team is willing to commit for that kind of specialized scoring.
For the Islanders, the fit is complicated by a forward group that already looks crowded, which makes any real pursuit harder to see. The Kings have been the other club most credibly linked, though even that remains murky, and the longer Laine stays on the market, the more this starts to feel like a test of patience as much as roster need. What remains unresolved is whether a team will eventually step up with more than a low-risk look and give him the kind of opportunity his track record suggests he can still justify. [Read more 🡒]