Op Ed: Islanders Have an Opportunity, but Change Badly Needed

I say hello, and you say goodbye.

The New York Islanders will bid a fond farewell to Matt Martin, the second member of the best fourth line in hockey to bid adieu to the skates. The move not only represents the passage of time but also the stasis of the Islanders lineup that has, in some small measures, improved but, in larger measures, clung to the increasingly distant playoff success of 2020 and 2021.

It seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago that the Islanders rose to the Stanley Cup semi-final, doesn’t it?

Based on the number of retreaded players and a lack of turnover, success is still pinging about the noggin of Grand Puba and general manager Lou Lamoriello, too.

However, the betting public hasn’t been deceived; they’ve seen the fall coming. The Sports Interaction Ontario book, where hockey betting is at its peak, decidedly went against the Islanders some time ago and is showing little sign of optimism for a rosy future on Long Island.

More players are the subject of a buyout than contract extension.

Some combination of Pierre Engvall, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Scott Mayfield might walk the plank this summer. Kyle Palmieri, who will be 35 next season, is a free agent, as are Hudson Fasching and Tony DeAngelo.

Noah Dobson is an RFA who will stick around, but fellow RFA Alexander Romanov was good for the first half but wore down in the second half.

It is all to say that the Islanders have a great chance for change but a boss who doesn’t seem to embrace it.

Their situation isn’t much different from the other stalwarts of the Metro Division. If Sidney Crosby weren’t the second coming of Gordie Howe, the Pittsburgh Penguins would be a bottom-three team this season. Their crew of castoffs and future AHL bus riders were largely underwhelming, at best, and don’t figure to improve next year.

The Philadelphia Flyers turmoil has been as enjoyable as transformative. They, too, are searching for the next phase to return to competitive hockey.

And we’ll pause here for you to stop chuckling with unbridled glee when we mention the imploding New York Rangers, whose first-round pick this year or next year will go to Pittsburgh. So much for that J.T. Miller trade, eh?

Washington saw their own collapse coming and planned like doomsday preppers. Next week, they will be the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

The Metro Division is in great flux, and it could stink even worse than last week’s catch left on the docks. There is a great opportunity for the Islanders to rebuild quickly around a dynamic defenseman (Noah Dobson), talented forwards worthy of the top line (Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal), and a goaltender who can steal games.

A quick rebuild would almost assuredly net the Islanders a playoff spot.

But if Lamoriello goes fishing in his pond of former players and doesn’t refresh the middle-six with a couple of impact players, the Islanders could just as quickly slump to the bottom of the Eastern Conference and be fighting Pittsburgh for a better shot at presumed 2026 first-overall pick Gavin McKenna.

Of course, one former Lamoriello player would be just fine. We’re looking at you, Mitch Marner.