The Islanders don’t need their power play to become a luxury item. They need it to stop dragging them down.
That’s the blunt truth hanging over training camp, and it has been a steady message from Pete DeBoer: no matter how sturdy the Islanders look defensively, they’re not getting back to the playoffs unless they score more. Once you accept that, the next step is obvious. The man advantage has to be much better.
Not elite. Not even necessarily dangerous every night. Just competent enough to stop being a problem.
That would still count as a major shift for a unit that finished 30th last season at 16.5 percent, going 40-for-242. It was the third time in four years the Islanders landed either 30th or 31st on the power play, and that lack of production fed directly into a season in which they finished 24th in goals scored.
There were signs this week that the group may be headed in a better direction. On Thursday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, the Islanders spent half their practice time working on the power play as they wrapped up a four-game preseason with games against the Rangers and Devils at UBS Arena on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
The most encouraging proof point came Tuesday in a 4-3 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, when DeBoer used a lineup closer to what the Islanders expect to roll out in Toronto on Wednesday. The power play clicked for three goals on five chances, with Matias Maccelli scoring twice and Matthew Schaefer adding a goal and two assists.
The numbers were nice. The process looked better.
The Islanders entered the zone with more speed and less chaos than they showed a year ago. Instead of getting bogged down trying to move the puck through the neutral zone and over the blue line, they were getting set sooner and spending more time actually attacking.
“I think speed,” captain Bo Horvat told Newsday when asked what needs to improve this season and what worked on Tuesday. “I think coming in with a lot more speed and putting more pressure on those hard stands that teams like to do at the blue line. And Schaef being able to get past that F1 (forward) and give us that gapping that allows us to have that speed.”
Thursday’s practice gave a clearer look at how the Islanders are trying to build that structure. Schaefer skated with Maccelli, Horvat, Brayden Schenn and Kyle Palmieri on the top unit, while Tony DeAngelo ran the second group with Emil Heineman, Cal Ritchie, Simon Holmstrom and Anthony Duclair. Those are the combinations that figure to be used against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Palmieri and Duclair handled the net-front spots. Horvat and Ritchie worked in the bumper.
Maccelli and Heineman were on the left halfwall, with Schenn and Holmstrom on the right. But the larger idea isn’t about locking players into fixed dots on the ice.
The emphasis is on movement, rotation and making defenders chase instead of sitting in place.
That was visible in both Tuesday’s game and Thursday’s practice, and it’s a change the Islanders clearly need. Rocky Thompson, in his first season running the power play, is trying to build something more reliable than last year’s version. The hope is not just that the unit works when everything is clicking, but that it still has answers when the inevitable cold stretch arrives.
“We’re trying to lay a good foundation to all our systems, power play included,” DeBoer said. “So when Mathew Barzal is out, you can still have success. When things get cold, as they will inevitably, you can have something to fall back on and rely on and guys can look quickly for answers.”
Barzal’s absence with a left knee injury puts even more weight on Maccelli, who was signed after the Maple Leafs did not tender him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. He gives the Islanders a puck carrier with speed, similar in that way to Barzal, but also brings a quick release from down low and from the angles.
“The more you practice it, the more things become instinctual,” Horvat said. “Having the guys out there and working through it together more regularly, guys start to figure each other out a little bit more. With Maccelli out there it’s a different look than with Barzy so we’re just kind of figuring him out.”
That’s where the Islanders are right now: figuring things out, and doing it fast. They have to if they want to make the postseason for the first time since 2024 and win a playoff round for the first time since 2021. And among all the questions they’re still chasing, the power play sits near the top of the list.
In Other News...
Islanders Just Gave A Familiar Roy Voice An Important New Role
The Islanders have brought Benoit Desrosiers back into the fold in a different capacity, hiring the former assistant coach as a pro scout to help strengthen the organizations scouting department. Desrosiers had been working under Patrick Roy with a specific focus on the clubs face-off unit, a detail that mattered because puck possession off the draw has been one of the cleaner parts of the teams game during his time on staff.
His transition comes after a late-season change on the bench, when he was relieved of his coaching duties and replaced by Rocky Thompson. For the Islanders, the move keeps a familiar Roy voice in the organization while shifting Desrosiers into a role that will ask him to evaluate players from a wider lens, an adjustment that could end up being just as important behind the scenes as his coaching work was on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
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The Islanders also have younger defense options starting to press for attention, which makes Mayfields spot feel less settled than it once did. If Isaiah George and Kashawn Aitcheson keep pushing for bigger roles, the blue line picture only gets tighter from here, especially with Mayfields contract still carrying significant term ahead of it. For now, he remains a part of the defense rotation, but the direction of the conversation has clearly shifted. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Face A Center Problem That Could Define Their Season
The Islanders have found themselves in a familiar sort of roster puzzle, only this one goes straight to the middle of the ice. Bo Horvat is set as the top center, and the rest of the depth chart is crowded with names that can help in different ways but do not all fit neatly into the same role. Mat Barzal, J-G Pageau, Brayden Schenn and Casey Cizikas each bring something distinct, while Cal Ritchie represents the younger end of the conversation as the team sorts through who belongs where.
What makes the situation tricky is that the Islanders have more than enough candidates to fill center spots, yet still not enough ideal answers to make the position feel settled. Recent trades and contract decisions have only added to the complexity, shaping a group that looks versatile on paper but unresolved in practice. For a team trying to define its identity and stay competitive, how the center mix shakes out could end up being one of the seasons biggest quiet storylines. [Read more 🡒]