Welcome to the fourth edition of the New York Islanders Stock Market, a series dedicated to analyzing the recent performance of all things related to the Islanders, including players, coaches, management, prospects, and more. While a single game can drastically impact a player’s outlook, this series will rely on more meaningful sample sizes to form well-rounded evaluations.
The Islanders have gone 3-4-2 over their past nine games, once again offering fans a mixed bag of hope, defeat, and uncertainty. In this span, the team has spent time at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, a game out of a playoff spot, and everywhere in between. With blown leads and a four-goal period, there’s been plenty of action — so whose stock has risen or fallen the most?
Up – Anders Lee
Over his last nine games, Islanders captain Anders Lee has tallied six goals and 11 points, leading the team in both categories. This stretch includes a three-point outing against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 29, which sparked a three-game goal streak. Building on his strong early-season performance, Lee has been one of the Islanders’ most consistent skaters at both ends of the ice.
After a disappointing 20-goal season last year, Lee has rebounded to reestablish himself as one of the NHL’s premier goal scorers. According to MoneyPuck, he ranks seventh in the league in expected goals per 60 minutes, ahead of prolific scorers like Sam Reinhart, Leon Draisaitl, Brayden Point, and Cole Caufield. While analytics don’t tell the whole story, these metrics suggest that Lee’s production is both impressive and sustainable.
Down – Special Teams
Despite converting on both power play opportunities against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 8, the Islanders’ special teams have been abysmal overall. Their struggles were on full display in the Dec. 10 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, where they failed to establish offensive zone possession during three power play opportunities and came away empty-handed. Since Nov. 25, the units have just three total goals on 28 opportunities, good for a 10.7% success rate. The Islanders currently sit dead last in the NHL for power play success, with a league-worst 11 goals on the season and just 5.47 expected goals per 60 minutes, ranking seventh worst in the league.
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As poor as their power play has been, the penalty kill has been even worse. The Islanders own a league-worst 65.62% success rate and allow 8.63 expected goals against per 60 minutes, the fourth-worst mark in the NHL. While their goaltending on the penalty kill has been underwhelming, the defensive scheme itself has failed to deliver. If the Islanders hope to contend for a playoff spot, they must elevate both special teams units to at least league-average performance.
Up – Noah Dobson
After a slow start to the season, Noah Dobson has found his stride, recording a goal and five points in his last five games and tallying seven points in his last nine. Logging over 22:30 of ice time per game on the top defensive pairing, Dobson has also played a key role in helping ease rookie Isaiah George into the lineup. While there’s still room for improvement in his defensive game, Dobson’s recent surge has earned him renewed praise from Islanders fans.
Down – Bednarik, Schulz
Team USA’s camp roster for the 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC) was announced, and the Islanders saw two of their prospects get the nod. Cole Eiserman, the team’s first-round pick from the 2024 NHL Draft, will look to participate in his first career WJC, while Danny Nelson, a 2023 second-round pick, will return following his strong performance that helped the USA win the tournament in 2024. Despite this, two American Islanders prospects, Kamil Bednarik and Zachary Schulz, were not invited.
Bednarik was more of a surprise than Schulz. The 18-year-old is a teammate of Eiserman at Boston University and is up to nine points (one goal and eight assists) in 15 games with the Terriers. He is a great two-way center, leading the school’s penalty-killing units, and is very physical. He was by no means a shoo-in to make the roster, but to not even earn an invite to the camp was a bit of a surprise.
Schulz was always a long shot, but the USA lacked defensive depth outside their top four, so Schulz was a candidate to earn a depth spot. However, he did not, and the 19-year-old, defensive defenseman will now look to build on his recent success with the University of Wisconsin Badgers by using his absence as motivation.
