New York Islanders

New York Islanders Hopes and Dreams for 2016

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Oct 13, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) prepares for a face-off against the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The 2016-17 NHL season has begun! And the New York Islanders already have a loss. Rather than dwell on my overwhelming sense of doom I want to think about all of my hopes and dreams for the team this season.

A loss to open the season against the Rangers is probably one of the worst ways for the New York Islanders to begin the season. There are certainly worse outcomes, like losing John Tavares to a season-ending injury in an after-the-whistle incident.

See, losing to the Rangers isn’t the worst possible scenario, but it’s definitely up there.

The Isles looked flat out there against the Rangers. Something that’s going to exercise itself naturally from the team’s ethos. Or at least that’s the hope.

As fans, we often dwell on the negative. It’s not that we’re inherently negative people, it’s just the drama that comes from a negative event is more visceral than that of an upbeat sunshine-rainbows-lollipops type of story. That’s why the News always starts with the bad stuff first, it gets eyeballs to the screen.

But I want to focus on those sunshines-rainbows-lollipops. I want to share with you, my hopes and dreams for the New York Islanders in 2016-17. So crank up some Leslie Gore and picture yourself in the back of chief Wiggum’s squad car, it’s about to get “posi”.

Tavares to be in the Scoring Title Race

John Tavares had a slumping year last year. Or at least it seemed like he did. Seventy points seems like a paltry return for the man that essentially carried the New York Islanders on his back since he entered the league.

I want him to be challenging for the scoring race, like back in 2014-15 when he was neck and neck with Jamie Benn and Sidney Crosby. His 86 points that year wasn’t enough, being edged out by a single point by Jamie Benn on the final day of the season.

As Isles fans, we all know what Tavares is capable of doing. But there’s nothing like an Art Ross trophy, or a challenge to remind the world just how good our captain is.

I just want to be able to see the Isles deserve a bit more respect around the league. I want the novelty of the New York Islanders being good to wear off.

Sure the Islanders have a recent history of terrible blunders, bad contracts,and just general organizational instability. So it’s not like the disdain for this franchise comes out of the blue.

A scoring title run won’t fix that on its own. But how good would it feel to be important and relevant? I sincerely hope Tavares can get back to that 2014-25 scoring pace.

Oct 15, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates with the puck as New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) defends in the first period at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Barzal to Figure in the Calder

We’re going over my hopes and dreams for the season, right? John Tavares to challenge for the scoring race while still a hope and dream is seemingly more feasible than this one.

I know he had a bit of a rough outing against the Capitals. And I know I said if Barzal can’t handle the occasion perhaps he needs to be sent to the AHL to acclimatize himself to playing with adults.

But we’re dealing in hypotheticals here. So I’m hoping that Barzal can get his emotions in check and get back to doing what he does best. Scoring a bucketload of goals.

So just picture Barzal on a 2015-16, McDavid like scoring pace. That’s 1.06 points per game. Over a full 82 game season, that’s about 87 points.

Lofty expectations that for sure. But this isn’t a projection with analytical maps and models. It’s a hopes and dreams piece.

The Islanders saw something in the 19-year-old to want to keep him on the team. My hope is he can make good on that promise.

Eighty-six points is clearly farfetched, but not impossible.

Apr 24, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; The New York Islanders salute their fans after defeating the Florida Panthers in game six of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Barclays Center. The Islanders defeated the Panthers 2-1 to win the series four games to two. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Finish in A Seeded Position

Last season the New York Islanders made the post-season in 2015-16 through a wildcard position in the east. Finishing just a point below city rival Rangers.

Say what you will about the Panthers being a favorable matchup over the Penguins in round one. But falling to the wildcard opens the Islanders up to being caught by a number of teams in both the Metro and the Atlantic.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t need the extra stress of being in a wildcard race. The 82 game grind of the regular season is stressful enough.

The Isles clinched a playoff spot in 2016 with three games remaining on the schedule. Until that point, I and most of you were stressing out. God forbid someone at work asked us the wrong question. “No Mary from HR. I DON’T have that report! Gawd”

Let’s avoid that again, for both our’s and Mary’s sake.

This hope and dream is totally attainable. They were just a point out of the spot at season end. I’m not asking for the world. Just a third seed would meet my desires.

Just avoid the wildcard.

Mar 26, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano looks on from the bench against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The New York Islanders defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in the overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

A Competent Power Play

The Islanders powerplay last season was bad. Not terrible. But bad enough to have an efficiency rating that hit in the bottom half of the league at 18.3%.

My hope for this season is for this power play to click somewhere around 20%. It’s not a big claim, eight teams hit efficiency ratings of 20% or more.

But for the Islanders to hit this elite power play efficiency they need to sort out their PP strategy. And that means keeping it simple. Work on the basics, like getting shots to the net.

We’ve seen a few flashes of what the Islanders can do on the PP with Mathew Barzal. His work with the puck along the wall just seems to suck in defenders, opening up pockets of space for players like Lee or Bailey upfront.

But that hope was short-lived. With Barzal in the pressbox for the Isles home opener, the powerplay flatlined. It went 0/4 against the Ducks. Bringing the Islanders efficiency to a woeful 11%.

OK, sure it’s only three games in the season so this 11% isn’t going to stick around all season. But we can already see the inefficiencies starting to show up again.

My hope isn’t to have the league’s best power play or even a record-breaking powerplay. I just want one that’s efficient one out of five times. Becuase the playoffs are where an efficient power play counts the most.

The Islanders have serious intentions for the conference finals. But to get anywhere the Isles need to have a powerplay that can figure out zone entries.

I know some of these hopes might be a bit outlandish, Barzal for Calder?! But that’s what fans do. We believe in the irrationality of the sport. And we dream big regardless of the reality of the situation.