New York Islanders: Reaction to ESPN's NHL Power Rankings
The NHL season is nearly here, and ESPN released their first NHL Power Rankings of the season. Where do the New York Islanders place?
It was a very successful season for the New York Islanders last year, as they were able to make the playoffs for the second straight season. For the first time since 1993, the Islanders were able to advance into the second round of the playoffs.
After just getting by the Florida Panthers, the Islanders would have no such luck against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This offseason, there has been a lot of change for the Islanders from ownership to personnel. With new owners taking control, they have set the expectations of continuing to make the playoffs.
While expectations are still high, the Islanders did lose a few key players. The loss of Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin will certainly be felt by the organization. Okposo and Nielsen were the second and third scorers on the team last season, and players will have to replace that production.
It will take some time before we can judge if letting these three walk in free agency was the right move, but the Islanders didn’t just sit on their hands. The signing of Andrew Ladd should certainly replace the scoring production of at least Okposo or Nielsen. The real challenge will be to get one of their talented young players like Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, or Brock Nelson to make a step forward. If a few of their young players continue to develop, the offense should be fine.
In ESPN’s first NHL Power Rankings, they believe that the changes this offseason will be too much for the Islanders to overcome.
Lots of teams got better in the Metro and in the Eastern Conference overall. We don’t think the Islanders were one of them. It’s time to ramp up the sale of those “John Tavares to Toronto” T-shirts.
The 21st ranking for the Islanders is rather shocking. Seeing the Islanders being ranked as one of the worst teams in the NHL seems a bit hard to imagine. The Islanders have two very good goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss to go along with a good defense led by Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk.
Time will tell if ESPN is right, but the Islanders will be able to use this as a chip on their shoulder heading into the season.
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