Two Things the Islanders Should Do in Final Games of the Season

It’s all but over now. After last night’s unmitigated tire fire of a loss to the Nashville Predators, coupled with another Montreal Canadiens win, the season is over. Any slim hope for playoffs has been sufficiently quashed.

Technically, the Islanders are not yet eliminated. In order to make the dance, they’d have to go a perfect 5-0-0, while Montreal, who still plays Philadelphia and Chicago, must go 1-3-0. Or, somehow, Montreal would need to go 0-4-0 and the Islanders win each game in regulation going 4-1-0.

As moneypuck.com had it this morning, it’s about a 1% chance, and even that’s generous. The game last night perfectly encapsulated everything that went wrong for the 2024-25 Islanders. Nightmare special teams, blown leads, and a key injury.

That injury brings us to point number one.

#1: Don’t Play Ilya Sorokin

Last season, the Islanders rode Ilya Sorokin hard throughout the heart of the season, all until he completely collapsed in March. He became unplayable, and it was later revealed he likely suffered an injury that necessitated offseason back surgery. Sorokin missed virtually all of training camp, so Semyon Varlamov initially received a heavier dose of starts this year.

Now, Sorokin picked up a minor injury in Nashville. He remained in the game until the end of the second period, but postgame Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy confirmed he suffered an injury, but he should be fine.

I don’t think there’s any reason to risk anything at this point in the season. Marcus Hogberg should start Thursday against the New York Rangers, no questions asked. This weekend is trickier, with a back-to-back with the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils. Sorokin likely has to play one of those, unless he will be placed on IR, effectively ending his season.

Then, you could once again recall Jakub Skarek and give him the game in New Jersey.

#2: Get Adam Boqvist Back in the Lineup

It’s time to unleash one of the youngsters on the roster. Adam Boqvist crushed his limited minutes so far this year despite an injury and multiple stints as a healthy scratch. He’s answered the call to play both center and winger in a pinch, further cementing his dedication to the game and team.

There are options to sub Boqvist in the lineup, too. First, Tony DeAngelo. DeAngelo does a lot of things very well offensively, and it shows with his 17 points in 30 games. His ability to make a seam pass is as good as anyone throughout the entire NHL, no question. He is also the first to get in a scrum and defend his goalie or his teammates, something that helped him be well-liked in the room.

However, he’s struggled to fix the Islanders’ hapless power play and has well-known defensive warts. Even so, DeAngelo’s played well of late. He’s not likely exitting the lineup.

The other options are risky. Alexander Romanov has completely cratered defensively. He has not looked right for the last couple of weeks, and perhaps he needs rest. Ditto that for Ryan Pulock whose late penalty last night kicked off the collapse. You could also just take Scott Mayfield back out of the lineup, but that would be unfair to Mayfield as he’s played well since his re-insertion.

The team gave up seven goals to the Nashville Predators last night. Those same Predators sit 30th in the NHL. Nobody aside from Adam Pelech, who finished a +3 last night, should be safe. Pelech’s been the team’s best defenseman of late, going +7 in their last six games while dealing with rotating partners throughout.

Nobody else should be guaranteed a spot. There’s also an argument to put Mike Reilly back in the lineup, too. Nothing should be given after giving up a touchdown to the 30th-placed team in the NHL.

How to Utilize Boqvist:

As for how to use Boqvist, look no further than DeAngelo. He’s averaged 23:22 TOI (time-on-ice) per game, and the top unit looks on the power play. That’s the type of minutes to give to Boqvist.

Boqvist’s production (2-6-8, 3 PP Points in 16 games) is quite similar to DeAngelo’s (4-13-17, 3 PP Points in 30 games) in significantly fewer minutes. Also, like DeAngelo, Boqvist has some defensive warts to be worked out. Now’s a perfect time to flip the script. There are five games left in the season. DeAngelo cannot show you anything new at this point in his career.

Boqvist should be given a heavy load, and the Islanders can test whether he’ll sink or swim. Give him reps on the top power-play unit with Bo Horvat and company. If giving Boqvist heavy minutes fails, but he creates some offense, it’s what they’ve gotten (and liked) with DeAngelo and Dobson anyway. Might as well try something new. Now, there’s truly nothing to lose.