The New York Islanders have already spent the offseason making changes, but the job still doesn’t look finished. There’s one obvious hole left, and it’s the kind of need that could push them into one more bold move in free agency.
What they need is a real power-play finisher. Patrik Laine stands out as the cleanest fit still on the board.
Laine comes with plenty of baggage. Injuries have interrupted his career, and his five-on-five play has not fully bounced back after multiple long absences. Any team that goes after him has to understand that the version of Laine who looked like a future offensive star early in his career may not be coming back in full.
But the Islanders don’t need that entire package.
“The one thing Patrik Laine can still do is score,” the Mike Johnson said on NHL Tonight. “Score and shoot.”
That’s the exact skill set New York has been missing. The Islanders finished 32nd in the NHL on the power play two seasons ago and 30th last season. A new coaching staff and a different structure could help, but they still need a shooter who can make penalty killers react.
Johnson made the case that Laine could slide into a very narrow, very useful role.
“You recognize what you’re looking for him to do, which is to almost exclusively score goals, and anything at five-on-five is a bit of a bonus,” he added.
That’s where the fit gets interesting. The Islanders could put Laine around players who handle the defensive side of the puck.
They wouldn’t need him to drive a line, handle penalty-kill duty or be their most complete forward. They’d need him in open space, ready to rip his one-timer and cash in on power-play chances.
“Even if you just get the guy who’s one of the best shooters of the puck in the league, he can get you 15, 18 power-play goals,” Johnson said as he concluded his case.
For a team that lives in tight games, that kind of bump could matter a lot. Laine brings risk, no question.
But the Islanders aren’t shopping for a full reinvention here. They’re looking for one thing from him: shoot the puck and score goals.
In Other News...
Islanders May Have A Camp Surprise Veterans Cant Ignore
Marshall Warren is heading into training camp with a real chance to make himself part of the Islanders blue-line conversation. The 25-year-old defenseman from Long Island signed a one-year, two-way deal and has spent the summer training at home alongside veteran Islanders defensemen, a useful setup for a player trying to turn a promising stretch into something more permanent. He already gave the organization a glimpse of what he can do when he reached the NHL last October and immediately chipped in two assists in his debut, then backed that up with a strong offensive season in Bridgeport.
Now the challenge gets a lot tougher. Warren is trying to win a full-time roster spot in a camp that already has established veterans in the mix, along with younger names such as Matthew Schaefer and Isaiah George, so there will be no shortage of competition for minutes. For a local product who has already shown he can contribute in the right setting, the next few weeks will say plenty about whether that first taste of the NHL was just a moment or the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Add Sergei Zubov To Alexander Steens Growing Front Office
John Tortorella is still looking for his next bench, even after the Golden Knights went in a different direction and elevated Ryan Craig out of Henderson. Tortorella had made it clear he wanted another coaching opportunity, and the Vegas decision only adds another wrinkle to a market that has already been moving quickly as teams sort through their offseason plans.
For the Islanders, the front-office search appears to be part of that same churn. Boston assistant general manager Evan Gold is expected to leave the Bruins, and New York has shown interest in him, while St. Louis kept building out its own hockey-ops staff by bringing in Sergei Zubov as an advisor. It is another sign that the hiring season is still very much alive, even if the next move for the Islanders remains to be seen. [Read more 🡒]