The first players to come to mind as essential to the New York Islanders and their success in 2024-25 are Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, Ilya Sorokin, and depending on who is asked, Noah Dobson. After that, the players that might be mentioned are Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair, both of whom are injured, and Kyle Palmieri, who is having a breakout season.
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One name that often goes unmentioned is Anders Lee. Yet, he’s been one of the forwards carrying the Islanders this season, especially at the offensive end of the ice. The latest game saw him score a power-play goal from his office (near the crease on a deflected centering pass) and assist the second goal on a cross-ice pass to help the Islanders win the Nov. 30 game against the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0. It’s these performances that have reminded the fans of what he can bring to the offense and the time it takes to recover from an injury and play at a high level.
Lee’s Big Season
The two-point night against the Sabres gave Lee his 10th goal and ninth assist on the season. He’s remained a finisher and a scorer for the Islanders, something he’s been throughout his career. But since his move to the top line, where he plays alongside Horvat, he’s proven he can do it all.
Lee has made his mark as a playmaker from the wing. When he’s not in the dirty areas, he’s setting up the other skaters for scoring chances and it’s paid off big for the Islanders. His nine assists in 25 games have him on pace for a career-best season as a passer as he can end the season with 30 or more assists and take the top line up a notch.
The offensive zone play has been great, but it’s not what stands out. What does is Lee’s ability to do it all as well as skating with more speed and ease than he’s done in the past few seasons. He’s gashing opponents in space and on the rush, making him a versatile skater, something he hasn’t been in the past, especially since the 2020-21 season.
Lee’s Timeline
Before the Patrick Roy era, the Lane Lambert era, and even the Barry Trotz era, Lee was a 40-goal scorer. He scored 40 goals and 22 assists in 2017-18 and in a four-season span (2016-17 through 2019-20) he scored 122 goals and 86 assists. It’s easy to forget that Lee was one of the best forwards on the Islanders. His work ethic both on and off the ice made him the rightful captain when John Tavares left in the 2018 offseason.
Then came the injury that changed the Islanders and Lee’s career. In the middle of the condensed 2020-21 season, he tore his ACL, sidelining the top-line forward for the rest of the season and the team’s deep playoff run. Lee returned at the start of the 2021-22 season but it was clear he was a shell of himself and still recovering from the injury.
It was easy to look back at the past few seasons and say that Lee was aging poorly. He’s only scored 86 goals and 66 assists in 264 games since the injury and his skill set was limited to him finishing scoring chances and not much else. At 34 years old, it looked like his best work was in the rearview mirror.
In a way, Lee embodied the issues that kept the Islanders from contention. He was aging and one-dimensional, two problems that kept the Islanders from taking the next step in the Eastern Conference in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Sure, the Islanders could make the playoffs and they did in 2023 and 2024 but they would never be a Cup contender, not with players who couldn’t win in multiple ways, like Lee in the recent seasons.
The thing is that Lee never fully recovered from the ACL injury. He was back on the ice but not playing at full strength. This season is the first in a while that he has been back and his speed and overall play reflect that. He’s skating with the speed the Islanders saw in his early days and he’s creating offense for a team that desperately needs it.
Lee Is a Lesson for the League
The ultimate lesson that Lee provides is that teams must be patient when their players suffer injuries, especially long-term ones like knee and shoulder issues. Lee was back on the ice in 2021-22 and played all 82 games in 2022-23. He’s the type of player who is willing to power through injuries but it comes at a cost. His play took a hit and the Islanders didn’t have that same spark at the offensive end because of it.
The Colorado Avalanche captain, Gabriel Landeskog, hasn’t played since the team won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and his knee injury has provided an uncertain timeline for his recovery. The Avalanche would love to have their star back in the lineup but even if he returns this season, he won’t be playing at full strength. Landeskog will take time to recover and like Lee, he will return to full strength someday and be the star players fans are used to seeing.
One of the themes this season has been the injuries. They’ve plagued the league with some of the best skaters in the game missing multiple weeks, even months, of action. Teams will want their players back on the ice but they must keep in mind that if they return, they won’t be the same dominant players. Instead, it will take time before they return to form and teams must be patient and play the long game as a result.
