The New York Islanders have found themselves in as bad of a situation a team could be in. In sports, successful teams tend to have a direction. A team should either be competing, rebuilding, or preparing for contention. This is a cyclical path that all successful teams go through. However, the Islanders appear to have no definitive direction, posing as contenders without making the necessary commitments to earn the title.
Where Are the Islanders in the Cycle?
Looking at this cycle, where do the Islanders fall? For a better idea, let’s analyze an example of which teams are at which stage. For rebuilding, those two teams are the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks. They are currently prioritizing youth development, garnering draft picks, and shipping out aging players. They are also not signing anyone to long-term contracts, keeping their long-term cap flexibility open.
For the second stage, preparing for contention, there are teams like the New Jersey Devils. They have been in the rebuilding stage in recent seasons, owning high draft picks where they selected elite talents like Jack Hughes and Simon Nemec. While they are not quite at the competing phase yet, they are getting there, creating promise for their fanbase.
Related: New York Islanders’ Top 10 Prospects
The final stage is competing. This one is easy, as some of the teams there right now are the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, and Vancouver Canucks. All of these teams have gone through the previous two stages in one way or another, selling off previous core players to garner youth and draft capital to prepare for contention. A team like the Rangers did this to perfection, bringing in veteran talent in Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba to help develop their youth like Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and K’Andre Miller. Now, they are reaping the benefits of their rebuild, preparing to win a Stanley Cup.
None of this is to say there is an easy blueprint to win a Stanley Cup as all teams find success in different ways. However, it outlines one of the more common ways teams find success, showing complete contradictions to what the Islanders are doing right now. All successful teams determine a direction and commit to it.
One of the traits that all of the teams mentioned have in common is that they acquired young talent through the draft. They went through tough times to get where they are now but are seeing their patience pay off. The Islanders’ last selection in the first round was Simon Holmstrom in 2019. Their most recent top 10 selection was in 2014 when they selected Michael Dal Colle. This is not to say top-10 draft picks are how to build a franchise, but building around your youth is. The Islanders have built a team of good players, but few stars, and they have positioned themselves to stay in this purgatory for the next five or more seasons until these contracts expire.
Can the Islanders Fix It?
The current Islanders roster is good, but not great. The team has missed the playoffs just once since 2018, going to an Eastern Conference Final and playoff semifinal in back-to-back seasons just three seasons ago. However, they have won just three playoff games since, and are in no position to change their circumstances.
According to CapFriendly, the Islanders have a projected cap hit of $81.41 million for next season with just 10 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies under contract. Once the roster is filled, the team will likely be around the cap ceiling. With how it is constructed, there is no room to improve without serious cap space maneuvering.
There are 12 players signed to contracts that maintain a no-trade clause, posing a serious issue for a roster that needs improvements. The even bigger problem is most of these players are signed for multiple seasons, some like Scott Mayfield and Pierre Engvall for another six. There are not necessarily any “bad” contracts, but there are no “steals” either, forcing a question as to why these long-term contracts were ever signed.
Negotiating a long-term contract should be viewed as a way for the team to sign a player to a contract viewed as a valuable deal for the team. The final few seasons may not be good value, but the annual average at the beginning of the contract is where the team is satisfied since they are paying lower than market value to an important contributor.
The reality with the Islanders is that it is not constructed to win a Stanley Cup. There is not enough flexibility, youth, or talent to join the ranks of top teams like the Rangers and Stars. While it may be frustrating as a fan to watch this team operate the way they do, it is hard to imagine the front office is happy, either.
Luckily, the Islanders’ roster is filled with players who would be of value to other teams, even if they are not on an ideal contract, so there is a path to getting to contention. It will not be easy, but through tough goodbyes and major acquisitions, it is possible to become one of the league’s top teams. Only time will tell if the front office will make the changes necessary to bring back the Stanley Cup to Long Island.
