For most of last season, the Islanders were in a postseason position, but a late-season slump left the Islanders on the outside looking in when the Stanley Cup Playoffs commenced.
That was a feeling that stuck with the Islanders throughout the offseason.
“It sucks,” said defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the Calder Trophy winner as NHL Rookie of the Year. “I take a lot of responsibility and our team does too. I think I can be better. I think we can be better. It’s unacceptable for our fans, for our team, and for our organization. I think we should have been in the playoffs. We were in a spot the whole time and that last stretch kind of killed us.”
The slide at the end of the season cost Head Coach Patrick Roy his job and he was replaced by Peter DeBoer with four games remaining in the season. The aggressive move by General Manager Mathieu Darche did not get the Islanders in the playoffs, but it did signal a new direction for the team as training camp gets underway this week at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.
The feeling of not making the playoffs last year still hurts and serves as motivation for the new season.
“To be so close and not make it,” said center and new Islanders Captain Bo Horvat. “I think it leaves an empty pit in your stomach. Our main goal is to make the playoffs and anything can happen and that’s what we’re going to do.”
For the Islanders, the hardest part of not making the playoffs last season after occupying a playoff spot for most of the campaign was seeing the teams that passed them on television when the postseason began.
“Especially when you have to watch the first round at home,” said defenseman Tony DeAngelo who signed a new two-year contract to remain on Long Island.
“It’s tough but we have to do the job. You can’t complain because the other teams found a way to get in and we didn’t.”
The road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins at training camp this week and camp is going to look different than it has in the past.
With the regular season expanded to 84 games, the pre-season schedule has been condensed to four games and that means fewer players participating in training camp and the Islanders getting to their NHL roster a lot faster than in the past. There will be some prospects who won’t get to play in a pre-season game and players can only play in a maximum of two games.
The Islanders will be on the fast track in laying the bricks to build this year’s team and what the team will be all about.
“We need to establish a foundation and an identity for this year’s New York Islanders,” said DeBoer who is set for his first full season as Islanders Head Coach.
“Every year is different. Every year is a different group. That’s always the goal of a coaching staff. What’s going to be the identity of this year’s team? What are we going to hang our hat on? How are we going to win games? That’s on us coaches to implement that and for the players to buy in.”
And so far, the players have bought in to what DeBoer is selling and that began during the final four games of last season.
Not only was it a chance for the returning players to get an early feel of their new Head Coach, but it was also a chance for DeBoer to get a feel of his new team.
It’s apparent that training camp begins with everyone on the same page.
“We’re excited,” said forward Kyle Palmieri who is good to go after suffering a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee in November. “I think it’s an exciting opportunity for our group to really wrap our heads around the way he wants to play and the way we’re going to need to play to be successful.”
This year’s roster will look a bit different, especially with the loss of former Captain Anders Lee who could not come to terms with the Islanders and signed as a free agent with the Utah Mammoth. Former Maple Leafs left wing Matias Maccelli joins the Islanders as a free agent while young players like right wing Viktor Eklund and defenseman Isaiah George will push for roster spots.
The Islanders will also welcome back defenseman Alexander Romanov, who is fully recovered from right shoulder surgery, and goaltender Semyon Varlamov who returns from double knee surgery. Varly has not played in an NHL game since November 29th, 2024 and, barring a setback, will be the backup to Ilya Sorokin, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season.
While much of the roster will be the same, the structure and the blueprint for success will be different under DeBoer.
“I think he can just lay his foundation as to what he wants for the year and what exactly we need to do to be successful,” said Horvat. He’s very good at making things very clear.”
“Things change when you get a new head coach,” said DeAngelo. “You get a different style of play. A lot of times, everything looks the same, but there’s still different little things we’re going to do so hopefully it can take us where we want to go.”
And where the Islanders want to go is the Stanley Cup Playoffs and from there, it’s just like buying a lottery ticket.
You know the saying…you gotta be in it to win it.
Even if a good chunk of the hockey world doesn’t believe.
“I think people are doubting us and you know what…I love when haters hate because we’re going to do our thing,” said Schaefer. “We’re going to worry about us. We’re going to be on the ice just focusing on what we have and we don’t care what anyone else says because, at the end of the day, we’re a family and we’re worried about what we’re going to do.”
Schaefer was brilliant in his rookie season last year with 23 goals and 36 assists for 59 points playing in all 82 games.
But just like the Islanders as a team, this season is a chance to take things to a new level.
“I think we have a lot more to show,” said Schaefer. “I’m super-excited to have a full training camp with Pete and just get it going because I think we have so much to show of Islanders hockey. For the fans, I think they deserve it too.”
For Islanders Country and the entire Islanders organization, the initial objective is to correct what went wrong at the end of last season and get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
From there, you never know what can happen.
The feeling of not making the playoffs last year still hurts, and serves as motivation for the new season.
The feeling of not making the playoffs last year still hurts, and serves as motivation for the new season.
