It’s hard to look at the New York Islanders and see them as close to the Stanley Cup, especially when they are compared to the two finalists, the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. The Islanders at best can make the playoffs but this team as constructed can’t go much further and certainly can’t compete against the Oilers and Panthers, two model franchises.
Related: Are the Islanders Close to Being Stanley Cup Contenders?
The big picture looks grim but the bright spot is that the Islanders have the right head coach in place. Patrick Roy was hired midseason and he turned this team around as they went 20-12-5 with him behind the bench to make the playoffs. He only coached for a few games but Roy is the reason the Islanders have hope for next season as he looks like one of the great coaches in the league.
How Roy Mirrors Knoblauch & Maurice
Both the Oilers and Panthers play balanced and structured hockey. On top of that, they win with defense, something that is prevalent in the playoffs with both teams shutting down potent offenses. It’s reflective of the great coaches behind the bench. With the Panthers, it’s Paul Maurice and the Oilers are led by Kris Knoblauch, who like Roy, was hired midseason and never looked back.
Roy brought structure and discipline back to the Islanders while allowing the offense to still play well. The big thing is how the defensemen play as they dictate how the team looks on the ice. In their zone, they are more structured but when they are in the offensive zone, they have more freedom and can look to find the back of the net. With Roy instilling this, the Islanders have become a balanced team.
Knoblauch is a calm and reserved coach while Roy is anything but so that’s a contrast between the two coaches. However, like Maurice, Roy brings a fire and passion behind the bench that rubs off on the roster and is something the Islanders need. Looking at how the Panthers play for Maurice, it’s easy to see how the Islanders eventually can play up to their head coach who has gotten the best out of an average roster.
In a Full Season, Roy’s Impact Will Be Felt
It’s hard not to think of Roy’s trajectory as a similar one to Rick Tocchet’s. When Tocchet was hired in the middle of the 2022-23 season, he had an uneventful first few months with the Vancouver Canucks. They weren’t piling up the wins but the foundation was being set as the team was starting to buy into his style. The Canucks kicked off the next season strong and ultimately finished with the best record in the Pacific Division, securing their head coach the Jack Adams Award.
The same can be said about Maurice in his second season with the Panthers. They barely snuck into the playoffs in his first season behind the bench but once they bought into his system, the team became tough to play against. The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and had another remarkable season to reach the Final once again.
Roy will have the entire offseason and training camp to put his stamp on the Islanders. With that, there’s an expectation for them to be a great team next season. The turnaround in half a season already has Roy ahead of schedule. Just imagine what he can do in a full season.
Islanders Lack the Star Power
All the optimism surrounding Roy doesn’t amount to much considering the outlook of the Islanders roster. Aside from the lack of depth, they don’t have the elite players like the Oilers and the Panthers to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, and Noah Dobson are good, All-Star-caliber players. However, they aren’t in the same tier as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Matthew Tkachuk, or Aleksander Barkov.
The Islanders have stars who can get them to the playoffs but they can’t elevate them in the playoffs and carry this team to the Cup. Recent history has proved that teams that win the Cup have the stars in place to lead them there. The depth helps as well but oftentimes, the team has a top 20 or even a top 10 player on their roster who can take over games.
Roy can squeeze what he can out of this roster but there’s only so much he can do. There’s the classic saying that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, but what happens when life gives you expired and spoiled lemons? Good luck making good lemonade out of that (the expired lemons seem like an appropriate analogy for the Islanders). Roy can help only to a point. This leads to the other issue with the Islanders.
Lamoriello Must Do His Part to Upgrade the Islanders
For all the praise heaped on Roy, Lou Lamoriello is still the same general manager (GM) who has led this team since 2018. With the Islanders on the decline, he must change and particularly, be more aggressive to get this team back in the contention conversation.
For Lamoriello to do that, he must take a swing or two in the offseason and unfortunately, he’s unlikely to do so. Sure, he can point to the Johnny Gaudreau or Nazem Kadri contracts and say they didn’t help take teams to the next level and similarly, the Alex DeBrincat trade didn’t help the Detroit Red Wings reach the playoffs. But it’s hard for Lamoriello to look at the two finalists and say they didn’t get a boost from bold offseason moves. He must have his Tkachuk-like trade or a signing like Zach Hyman, a move that took the Oilers’ offense to the next level.
The Islanders at the very least have the right coach in place. The problem is that might be the only thing going their way. The problems start at the top and aside from behind the bench, they work their way down to the roster and even the farm system, which doesn’t help this team’s cause either. So, the road back to contention, despite Roy’s efforts, might be a long and winding one.
