The Islanders’ path back to the postseason starts with three obvious pressure points, and none of them leaves much room for error.
First, Mat Barzal has to be on the ice. The knee issue that hit him this summer already knocked him out of preseason action, and he’ll miss opening night.
That’s a brutal early blow for a player who has missed 76 regular-season games because of injury since the start of the 2022-23 season entering last year, then bounced back to play 81 games after recovering from the knee injury he suffered in February of 2025. The problem is that the Islanders simply do not have enough margin to absorb another long absence.
Barzal has led or tied for the team lead in points in seven of nine seasons since 2017-18, and even with Pete DeBoer saying he isn’t worried and expects him back soon, the message is clear: the Islanders need No. 13 available, regularly, and as soon as possible. He spent plenty of last season taking maintenance days for that same knee, and now the focus shifts to keeping him upright for the long haul.
The second key sits behind him: protect Ilya Sorokin. He remains one of the best goaltenders in the world, the kind who can erase mistakes when the structure in front of him holds up.
Sorokin has appeared in 60 games in two of the last four seasons and has played at least 54 in that stretch, and his workload has included long runs of a dozen straight starts. Last season he made 452 high-danger saves, most in the NHL, and his 86.4% high-danger save percentage also led the league.
Spencer Knight was second in high-danger saves with 432 for the Chicago Blackhawks, 20 behind Sorokin, even though the Islanders finished with 19 more points than Chicago. Sorokin has been good enough to cover for a lot, including the flaws in Patrick Roy’s defensive scheme, but that can’t be the whole plan forever.
Under Pete DeBoer, the Islanders should be better in their own end. If they actually clean things up in front of Sorokin, he can turn tight games into shutouts.
Then there’s the future - and the Islanders need to stop treating it like a side project. They enter the season as the ninth-oldest team in the NHL, with J-G Pageau, Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas all 32 or older.
That makes the case for a youth push pretty simple. Victor Eklund will be in the opening-night lineup, and Cal Ritchie is set to start in the top six.
The Islanders need to give those players room to grow, because that’s where the upside lives. The same applies to Simon Holmstrom, who has to put together a strong scoring season if he wants to earn his long-term extension.
Cole Eiserman is expected to get NHL ice at some point this season, and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson should be part of that conversation too. For this team, the sooner those younger players are trusted, the better the outlook becomes.
In Other News...
Islanders Were In On Kirill Marchenko But One Big Hurdle Loomed
The Islanders were among the teams circling Kirill Marchenko before Columbus finally moved him to Toronto in the deal that brought Matthew Knies into the mix. Marchenko drew widespread attention across the league, with Montreal, Boston, Seattle and Tampa Bay also checking in, and the Canadiens reportedly staying in the conversation right down to the end. For New York, it was another sign the club was willing to explore a notable winger upgrade if the price and fit made sense.
The obstacle, though, was always going to be more than just interest. Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said Marchenko preferred to play elsewhere, but never offered a clear explanation for that desire, leaving clubs to read between the lines on whether a trade partner could actually make the move stick. In a market like that, the Islanders had to weigh not only what it would take to get him, but whether the situation would truly be a temporary rental or something more stable down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Just Added A Wild UBS Arena Twist Fans Will Debate
UBS Arena is getting a fresh menu shakeup for the 2026-27 season, with the Islanders, the building and Delaware North Sportservice rolling out a new batch of food items designed to give fans something to talk about long before puck drop. The lineup leans into the kind of arena creativity that has become part of the game-night experience, mixing familiar comfort food with a few offbeat twists.
Among the offerings is an Uncrustable Pulled Pork Tostada and a Burrata Boat, but the item that will likely get the most attention is a viral grilled cheese built around brie and Nerds Gummy Clusters on toasted sourdough. The novelty of it should be enough to fuel plenty of debate in the concourse, and the real question is how quickly Islanders fans embrace a menu that seems determined to make dining at the rink as memorable as the hockey itself. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Just Sent A Clear Message About Matthew Schaefer
The Islanders have started drawing a clearer picture of their leadership group for the 2026-27 season, and it includes a notable nod to one of the youngest players in the room. Along with Bo Horvat staying on as captain, the team named Ryan Pulock, Kyle Palmieri and Brayden Schenn as alternate captains, while also putting Matthew Schaefer in that mix as the organization continues to build around the No. 1 pick from the 2025 NHL Draft.
For a team looking to establish its next core, the move says as much about Schaefers standing inside the room as it does about his future on the ice. Giving a 19-year-old an alternate captaincy is not a routine gesture, and the Islanders clearly see a player they want to accelerate as a leader as much as a cornerstone, even as the rest of the leadership group stays anchored by established veterans. [Read more 🡒]