Daily Faceoff Live: The New York Islanders are on life support right now
The New York Islanders seem to be in a lot of trouble right now. They’re slowly drifting out of a playoff spot, and have just one win in their last 10 games.
Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk talked about the Islanders’ recent struggles on Daily Faceoff Live.
Frank Seravalli: It now becomes a mathematical improbability as to whether or not they can get back into the race and catch a team like the Washington Capitals or the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What alarms me about the New York Islanders is their inability to score. They’ve scored more than three goals in a game just once in the calendar year of 2023. The last time was 11 games ago. This is not a new story. We know that they have playmakers, they have Mat Barzal, one of the best in the league, but they don’t have any finishers. They need to find more goal-scoring production.
The problem is when you take a look at the way that their salary cap is structured on an aging team with a lot of term already handed out, there’s not a ton of flexibility for Lou Lamoriello at the trade deadline. And that’s the thing, this is every Islander fan’s worst nightmare as they’ve gotten to this point because they’re in a spot where they might not make the playoffs, and they already essentially doubled down on this roster from the summer, so a tough spot to be in if you’re a New York Islander fan.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Yeah, and you mention not a lot of pieces to sell right now, and when you look at their list of pending UFAs, it’s not exactly a ton of options here on the list, where you go “Oh yeah, they can get a second for this guy or a first for this guy.” Zach Parise up front, Scott Mayfield on the blueline may be a guy who would have a bit of value if they decide to move on from him.
Frank Seravalli: I don’t see the Islanders selling, that’s the thing.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You think Lou’s going to be stubborn?
Frank Seravalli: Well, he has been to this point. We haven’t seen any sort of indication. You take a look at the pending UFAs that you just mentioned, we haven’t seen any indication that they’re going to go down that path where they begin to pluck off pieces. My guess would be that they try to re-sign someone like a Scott Mayfield for instance.
So, I don’t know where they’re heading from here. That’s the thing when it comes to the deadline, only God and Lou Lamoriello would know. But in this case, given the posture that they’ve shown to this point, we don’t have any reason to believe that they’re going to be anything but what they’ve been to this point.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Maybe they’re a candidate for some sort of a hockey trade?
Frank Seravalli: Or a buy? Would you throw good money after bad this year?
Tyler Yaremchuk: I don’t know, it’s tough. They’re in quite the spot, and as you see with the standings, the math just isn’t in their favour. And again, I’ve said this line before, but it’s getting late early for a lot of these teams. And when you’re a team like the Islanders and not only are you out of a playoff spot, but you need to leap frog 2-3 teams just to get in.
Frank Seravalli: I’ll say this, if they do get in, they could be a really interesting team because of Ilya Sorokin. Look at their defensive metrics, look at their numbers. Barry Trotz is gone, but they still kind of play like a Barry Trotz team in the sense that their defensively sound. And Ilya Sorokin has done such a good job keeping the puck out of the net that maybe that’s why you try and push for an addition, because you’ve got the goaltender to get you there once you get in the door.
You can watch the full episode here…