So, What is the Islanders’ Identity Now?

The New York Islanders are having an identity crisis. In the last three seasons, the team has won just three playoff games, including a miss in 2021-22.

It’s a far cry from a team that was one win away from the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, a final in which they would’ve been heavily favored to take down the Montreal Canadiens. One year removed from that painful game seven defeat, the Islanders fired their head coach, Barry Trotz.

The Past

The 21-22 season was a dismal campaign that was over by Thanksgiving. The Islanders started on the road for the first six weeks before UBS Arena finally opened in November. The season saw the Islanders’ defense wither into dust as the team lacked any mobility on the backend. Noah Dobson had yet to establish himself, while Nick Leddy and Devon Toews were both gone by that point. Coupled with Sorokin just starting to take the reins as the starter, it all added up to a lost season on the Island.

One that ended with Trotz being fired and his closest assistant, Lane Lambert, promoted. Lambert was seen as the future, a coach who, if not for the deep runs in 2020 and 2021, surely would’ve received a head coaching gig already.

The Lambert era lasted just 18 months. The team improved marginally in 2022-23, but that can be attributed to a significantly better roster than what was there in 2022. Gone were Zdeno Chara and Andy Greene. Dobson finally stepped up and had a breakout season. The arrival of Alexander Romanov added more youth to their top four. Mat Barzal continued his leadership growth, all while Bo Horvat was acquired midway through the campaign.

Lambert’s Failures

However, Lambert’s biggest calling card was supposed to be his ability to infuse offense into the Islanders’ existing core. Anthony Beauvillier’s development stagnated and was dealt to Vancouver for Horvat. Josh Bailey started to show his age, and a feud between player and coach led to bitterness and healthy scratches, tainting the end of Bailey’s career, the longest for a career Islander not named Denis Potvin.

Bailey was respectful and said the right things, but his locker clean-out quotes after not appearing against the Hurricanes despite leading the Islanders in playoff points from 2019-2021 said it all.

“I think we had a mutual respect for each other. I think looking back on it now, it’s rather telling getting scratched four or five games into the year before my 1000th game, to where we ended up at the end of the season.”

It’s hard not to see Bailey’s frustration- seriously. Hudson Fasching played on the third line during that series, a role he was never fit for. Bailey was cap-dumped and hasn’t played a game since.

Oliver Wahlstrom tore his ACL but still struggled to develop under Lambert at the NHL level.

From Lambert to Roy

Lambert’s undoing was his inability to add offense while solely relying upon Ilya Sorokin to continue playing at a historic level. Sorokin and the lack of any quality defense saw the Islanders flounder around .500 until January of this season when Lou Lamoriello pulled the plug and brought in Patrick Roy.

With this much change, one thing remained constant. The Identity Line. Or, if you’ve been here long enough, the Best Fourth Line in Hockey. Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck. All three have been there for every playoff game for this franchise since 2015. Even Martin’s two-year odyssey to Toronto didn’t see him miss anything but two lost seasons.

They were the biggest part of the Islanders’ identity. A ragtag group of players constantly underestimated who would just wear the opposition down into submission and defeat. Twice, they vanquished Sidney Crosby and the Penguins as underdogs. They were the only team in either 2020 or 2021 to make the Lightning play in an elimination game.

That 2021 Lightning team lost its entire third line but still returned to the Final the next year. The upstart Islanders came up one win short in 2021.

Now What?

Three years later, that feels like ancient history to any Islanders fan. The identity of those teams has faded. Bailey, as mentioned, is gone. Martin and Clutterbuck have joined him in that group of leaders who’ve moved on.

As good as it is for present-day Islanders not to live in the past, they can still learn from it. This team needs an identity, but right now, it’s lost.

There are some hints from the few months of Roy the team played. A stingy man-to-man coverage in the defensive zone combined with never giving up on a game. Still, cracks showed. The Stadium Series collapse against the New York Rangers and, more importantly, the Game Two meltdown in Carolina showed that the team was fragile.

There was never confidence or belief in the 2023-24 Islanders. They constantly played afraid with the lead, chasing games they led by two or three goals. They even blew a three-goal lead to the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks in the third period.

The slow changing of the Islanders’ guard is finally arriving. After missing in 2022, Lamoriello said the team needed an outside voice but kept the hire inside. Two years later, the Islanders will have their first training camp and offseason without a coach who’s been behind them since 2018.

So, what’s their identity? Is it a shutdown, a defense-first team that came so close in 2021? Is it the rollercoaster, half-baked experience of the last three seasons?

Whatever it is, it should be new. The previous guard’s ceiling has been reached. Martin and Clutterbuck, the founding members of the Islanders’ Identity Line, are gone.

It’s time for a new chapter.