While the New York Islanders training camp got underway this week, the club will look very similar to the roster they iced during their first-round playoff exit against the Carolina Hurricanes. The absence of Zach Parise creates an opening in the bottom six that new additions Julien Gauthier and Karson Kuhlman will likely battle for with Hudson Fasching and prospect William Dufour.
The mark of a new campaign always comes with excitement for fans and players alike, and the 2023-24 NHL season is no different for Islanders’ faithful. It will mark the first entire campaign with Bo Horvat and Pierre Engvall on the roster, which should be an exciting factor for fans who await the opening puck drop. The Islanders will also take on their rival New York Rangers as part of the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series. Last season’s Vezina Trophy runner-up, Ilya Sorokin, has also been extended long-term and can focus solely on his on-ice performance instead of lingering contract negotiations being a potential distraction.
While their success on the ice this season is yet to be determined, there are also plenty of individual milestones to watch for this season, some more significant than others, but here are each player’s potential milestones for the 2023-24 campaign.
Mathew Barzal
Mathew Barzal is now entering his eighth season with the club; he has played 420 games, scoring 105 goals and 257 assists for 362 career points. Although he hasn’t played at least 80 games since the 2018-19 season, if he can do so this season, he will reach the 500 games played milestone. A healthy campaign will also go a long way for the overall success of the Islanders after he missed 24 games due to a knee injury last season.
Offensively, Barzal should be able to reach the 300-assist and 400-point milestones, provided he can remain healthy. While head coach Lane Lambert has yet to decide whether Barzal will play center or wing this season, the club enters with a deeper forward group than they began last season. With the additional talent of Horvat being in the lineup for an entire season, Barzal won’t have an issue dishing out the 43 assists or 38 points he needs to hit each milestone.
Casey Cizikas
Longtime Islanders’ forward Casey Cizikas continues to climb the franchise’s all-time games played list. He currently ranks 10th all-time with 745 games, and while injuries can come at any time, it seems highly likely that he will be able to hit the 800 mark in his 55th appearance of the season.
While he is best known as the center of the “Identity” line with Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, Cizikas is closing in on the 100-goal mark as he has scored 97 goals in his career. Although he isn’t known for his scoring abilities, this one will be special for the veteran forward.
Cal Clutterbuck
The all-time leader in hits through NHL history, Clutterbuck, is just 18 games away from hitting the 1000-game milestone. He made his NHL debut during the 2007-08 with the Minnesota Wild, where he spent the first six seasons of his career. This will be his 11th season on Long Island, and it will be a special night when he hits this significant milestone.
As mentioned, Clutterbuck’s 3,756 hits rank first all-time, and the 35-year-old will continue to bring the physicality as he closes in on becoming the first player to reach 4,000 hits in NHL history.
Noah Dobson
The Islanders will expect another strong 2023-24 performance from defenseman Noah Dobson. The 12th overall selection from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft will enter his fifth season with the club. He has appeared in 238 games, making the 300-game milestone attainable. He has 91 assists and will, without a doubt, surpass the 100-assist mark at some point in the campaign’s first half.
Pierre Engvall
One of Lou Lamoriello’s trade deadline acquisitions from last season, Engvall, found instant chemistry on the Islanders’ second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. Throughout his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he spent most of his time in a bottom-six role. Similar to Dobson, he is approaching 300 career games and will hit the milestone in his 56th game this season to hit that mark. He is also eight points shy of 100 for his career, which will likely shatter if he remains within the top six this season.
Hudson Fasching
Fasching is a likely candidate to play on the Islanders’ third line and sits 13 games away from the 100-game milestone. While playing in 49 games last season, he won many fans over with his playing style, scoring ten goals and nine assists for 19 points, all career highs.
Julien Gauthier
As mentioned in the opening, newcomer Julien Gauthier may give Fasching some competition for a roster spot. He has an edge experience-wise, with 153 games under his belt. Should he become a regular in the lineup, he could pass 200 career games this season. He also brings more size than Fasching and could be a player to watch throughout training camp.
Bo Horvat
Horvat, as mentioned, is entering his first full season on Long Island and will be looking to prove his worth after signing a lofty eight-year contract extension. With 651 games played through nine seasons, he will play the 700th game of his career this season.
Offensively, Horvat just passed the 200-goal mark last season. However, his 436 points leave him within striking range of hitting 500 career points. He will need to pile up 64 points or more to hit the milestone, something he has shown is entirely possible with his career-high of 70 in the 2022-23 campaign.
Anders Lee
The Islanders’ captain, Anders Lee, sits at the same career junction as Horvat. With 678 games played, he will also reach the 700-game milestone this season, becoming just the 12th player in franchise history to hit the mark (All with the Islanders).
Related: Islanders’ 2023-24 Player Projections: Anders Lee
When looking at potential scoring milestones, Lee sits just 24 assists away from 200. He will come very close to hitting that mark during the upcoming campaign. While he currently has 416 points, it is improbable that he will eclipse the 500-point milestone this year, considering his single-season career high was 62 points during the 2017-18 season.
Matt Martin
Drafted in the fifth round, 148th overall by the Islanders in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Martin continues to climb up the franchise’s games played list. He currently sits seventh all-time with 766 games in an Islanders jersey. Including his two seasons spent with the Maple Leafs, he sits just two games away from the 900-game milestone.
Martin also continues to pile up his hit totals and ranks second all-time in the category, only trailing longtime linemate Clutterbuck. With 3,698 credited hits to his name, he will be closing in on 4,000, as he should come close to 300 hits again this season.
Scott Mayfield
Lamoriello brought back nine-year veteran defenseman Scott Mayfield by signing him to a seven-year, $24.5 million contract. Through his time with the franchise, he has played 428 games, picking up 25 goals and 86 assists for 111 points. While health will again be a factor, he is set to surpass the 500-game milestone late in the season, as he needs 72 games to hit the mark. Although he is best known for what he brings to the defensive side of the game, Mayfield will also have a chance to collect his 100th career assist, should he dish out at least 14 assists this season.
Brock Nelson
Nelson has become a driving force of the Islanders’ offense, as he has led the team in goals for four consecutive seasons. He has found himself right at home on Long Island since being drafted by the organization in the first round, 30th overall at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. After leading the club with 75 points last season, Nelson now has a career total of 462. While he needs only 38 more points to hit the 500-point milestone, Nelson will hit the mark during the upcoming season.
Now entering his 11th season with the Islanders, Nelson will also hit the 800-game milestone in his 42nd game of the season. He has been a workhorse throughout his career, missing only 22 out of a possible 780 games since making his NHL debut in 2013-14.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, better known as J.G. Pageau, has provided the Islanders with consistent secondary scoring while playing in his role as the club’s third-line center. Since being acquired from the Ottawa Senators at the 2020 Trade Deadline, he has scored 47 goals and 62 assists for 109 points in 208 games, bringing his career point total to 291. He will easily pass the 300-point mark in the earlier parts of the season. While he currently sits at 636 games, Pageau will play in his 700th career NHL game in the second half of the season.
Kyle Palmieri
Kyle Palmieri is gearing up for his fourth season with the Islanders. Through his first three campaigns, injuries have prevented him from playing more than 69 games in a season. The last time Palmieri could suit up for a full 82-game schedule was back in the 2015-16 season when he scored 30 goals with the New Jersey Devils. Over his career, he has scored 216 goals and 209 assists for 425 points in 736 games. Health permitting, he will play in his 800th career game during his 64th appearance of the season.
Adam Pelech
The Islanders’ best all-around defenceman, Adam Pelech, had his 2022-23 season derailed after suffering a concussion following a hit from St. Louis Blues’ Robert Bortuzzo. The original day-to-day prognosis turned into a 21-game absence from the lineup. It was the latest in a lengthy list of injury woes Pelech has faced up to this point in his career. Out of 616 potential games over the past seven seasons, he has been limited to 433. (Not counting the nine games he played during the 2015-16 season). The Islanders need a healthy season from Pelech for their blueline that doesn’t have the most depth. If he does stay healthy, he will hit 500 career games in his 58th appearance. The 29-year-old is also just one assist away from 100.
Ryan Pulock
Just like his longtime defense partner, Pelech, Ryan Pulock will have the opportunity to reach the 500 career game milestone this season. Pulock enters the 2023-24 season with 428 games under his belt through eight seasons with the Islanders. Pulock is 28 points away from a career total of 200. If he can return to putting up over 30 points, as he did for three consecutive seasons between 2017-18 and 2019-20, he will reach that milestone this season.
Ilya Sorokin
Perhaps the best move of the Islanders’ offseason was getting the backbone of their franchise, goaltender Ilya Sorokin, locked up long-term with an eight-year extension worth $66 Million. Last season, the Russian netminder finished as the Vezina Trophy runner-up while posting a .924 Save Percentage (SV%) and a 2.34 goals-against average (GAA). He also helped lead the club back to the postseason, posting 31 wins in 62 games after they had missed the playoffs in 2021-22.
Through three seasons with the Islanders, Sorokin has 70 career wins, 30 short of the 100 mark. By following up his performance from last season with another stellar campaign, he will reach the milestone later in the season. With a total of 136 games played, it is doubtful that he will play the 64 games needed to reach 200. However, he wasn’t far off last season, and while keeping that in mind, he might also reach that milestone.
Semyon Varlamov
The Islanders also brought back veteran backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov, re-signing him to a four-year contract carrying a $2.75 annual average value. Varlamov serves as a mentor for the younger Sorokin and has helped immensely with the latter’s transition to life in North America. On the ice, the goaltending tandem remains one of the best in the NHL, and while Sorokin has been leaned on more heavily, Varlamov is fully capable of stepping up to the plate whenever he is called upon.
Through a 15-year NHL career, Varlamov has piled up 583 games played and will very likely surpass the 600-game milestone this season. Among Russian-born netminders, he ranks fourth all-time behind Nikolai Khabibulin, Evgeni Nabokov, and Sergei Bobrovsky. Varlamov also needs just two shutouts to reach the 40 mark; his 38 shutouts currently rank 47th all-time.
Winning the Stanley Cup is the Greatest Milestone
There you have it, every potential milestone for the Islanders players this coming season. While each milestone may have a different level of significance for each player, you can bet that they are more concerned with delivering results to a fanbase that has been waiting so long for their return to glory. At the end of these player’s careers, many won’t even remember when they passed some of these milestones. However, should they be able to achieve the greatest milestone by winning a Stanley Cup, they will become a group that is never forgotten. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. The 2023-24 season is coming up quickly.
