Once Directionless Islanders Now Have Clear Direction: Down

The New York Islanders (14-18-7) have sat in the NHL’s mushy middle for the last three seasons. That trend has continued into this year for a fourth straight season. After a second consecutive defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs (24-13-2), the Islanders fell into last place in the Metropolitan Division and 15th place in the Eastern Conference.

If the ping pong balls were drawn today, the Islanders would have the fifth-best odds of the first-overall pick (based on points %). Nothing Head Coach Patrick Roy has done has gotten any change.

With the situation as dire as that is, it’s worth mentioning the Islanders have played 39 games, tied for third-most in the Eastern Conference, trailing only the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils.

No matter how you look at the picture, it’s incredibly bleak. It really leaves the Islanders with only one direction to go—further down. Between pending UFAs such as Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, this once directionless ship has to set its course and commit to remodeling itself in order to compete not just for the last playoff spot or two but actually for the Stanley Cup.

There are a pair of things that are worth discussing as to why the course is charted in the way it is- two things that have been discussed as things that would turn around and right this ship. Instead, with 2025 underway, it’s become increasingly clear neither will be changing anytime soon.

Barzal’s Return Has Not Helped:

Since Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech returned, the New York Islanders are 2-6-0. Any talk of the top players returning and the team finally grabbing a playoff spot is now sufficiently quashed.

The Islanders have not scored a single power-play goal in the eight games with Barzal back in the lineup. Yes, Barzal has two primary assists on the two lone goals over 120 minutes of hockey against Toronto. That doesn’t tell the entire story. In the first period of Thursday’s game against Toronto, Barzal stole a clearance pass from John Tavares.

Barzal, with time and in prime scoring position, hesitated and allowed Woll to get set. Unsurprisingly, Woll gloved it.

https://x.com/tictactomar/status/1874985821419495909?s=46

It’s the exact chance you need your best forward to score 10 times out of 10. There shouldn’t have even been any true hesitation to shoot, but in a microcosm, that shows what plagues this team. Subtle, almost unconscious self-doubt that’s permeated beyond the point of no return.

The Special Teams Issue:

In total, it’s now ten consecutive games without a power play goal, and they’re 0/18 in that time. On the season, they’re just 11/99, 11.3%. The hope was that returning Barzal, Anthony Duclair, and Noah Dobson snapping out of his early-season funk would get the rhythm going.

It hasn’t, and nothing’s working. Once in a while, they generate some looks, but hardly anything comes of it.

As for the penalty kill, they allowed another game-winning goal on Thursday. This time, it came off the stick of Bobby McMann for his second of the night.

It’s not exactly known which coaches run what, but the common belief is this:

Roy + Benoit Desrosiers run 5v5, face-offs, and 5-on-5 systemic stuff. John MacLean, inherited from Lane Lambert’s staff, runs the PP. Tommy Albelin, who was hired this summer after almost a decade in Switzerland, runs the PK.

Albelin’s last time coaching in North America came with Lou Lamoriello’s 2014-15 Devils under Pete DeBoer. He specifically replaced Doug Houda’s role of defense and penalty killing. He has not improved any statistics in those areas. It seems rather evident that Albelin was a Lamoriello hire with no signs of success through 39 games.

I don’t know if there’s a quick fix. A lot of the team’s mistakes certainly aren’t what the coaches tell them to do—that’d be naive.

But it’s January 2nd, and there have been zero pivots, changes, or true swaps in how the Islanders have handled their special teams. That’s where it becomes on the staff.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Continuing to do the same thing with the same players is actively worsens the situation.

Through 39 games of utter ineptitude, it seems unlikely a pivot would come now.