National Hockey League general managers surely took notice of phenom Connor Bedard’s performance in the recent World Junior Championships. Bedard is already being compared to such players as Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid as having the potential to completely alter the face of a struggling franchise. It’s led to speculation that some teams are going out of their way to improve their odds of landing Bedard in the upcoming draft lottery by tanking as hard as possible.
Advertisement
And after witnessing the Islanders’ 1-3-0 road trip in which they looked utterly unprepared, outmatched and outclassed for long stretches of each game — are we sure that they aren’t one of them?
OK, that might be a little extreme. But frankly, the Islanders should be slightly mortified by the way they played on their Pacific Division road trip through Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. They come home with a laundry list of issues that if they don’t figure out soon, they could quickly find themselves well out of playoff position in the competitive Metropolitan Division. Four of the five games on an upcoming homestand are against solid clubs, including two, Dallas and Boston, that are in first place.
The Islanders began the trip coming in hot, winners of three straight. This trip provided the opportunity for them to make a statement on the road that they were ready to make their move in the standings.
Instead, at the official halfway point in a regular season that’s included a few ultra-competitive, impressive moments and others in which they look sloppy and lifeless, we now have a sense of just what this Islanders team really is.
Mediocre.
They weren’t even that in these last four games, though, and that has to be concerning to everyone in the organization. The problems that have plagued the Islanders at times throughout the early part of the season were on full display in the losses to the Kraken, Oilers and Flames, and even in the win over Vancouver in which they were abysmal for the first 20 minutes.
So what’s the problem, and who’s to blame?
It starts, as these things usually do, with the players in the dressing room. While it can be expected from time to time that a team is going to have a poor first period, when it becomes a pattern, the first line of questioning is why the veteran leaders can’t find a way to better prepare themselves and the younger guys around them to change it. This is supposed to be a team with a strong dressing room culture. That means patterns like this aren’t supposed to emerge. Why are they this season? That’s something that no one seems to be able to answer.
Advertisement
The first period in Calgary should have been the time for them to reverse the trend. Already they had three poor starts in the first three games. The Flames aren’t what they were a season ago. The Islanders surely knew that goalie Semyon Varlamov might need some time to settle in, playing for the first time since he was hurt on Dec. 17. But instead of playing responsibly with the puck, turnovers led directly to two of the Flames first three goals, and the Islanders were never able to catch up.
The power play remains awful, now in a miserable 2-for-36 slump over the last 13 games with little sign of getting out of it despite recently revamped units. The penalty kill has been slightly better, but there are still some issues there, too. Since not allowing a power-play goal for the first eight games of the season, the Islanders’ kill rate is 75.3 percent since then, or 19th in the NHL over that span.
The coaching staff, too, may be feeling a bit of heat now, considering some behind-the-bench moves that their boss has made in the past. And maybe they should. Poor starts and lackluster special teams also reflect on coach Lane Lambert and his assistants, as it’s ultimately their responsibility. Lambert has tried conducting regular morning skates, he’s tried skipping them, he’s tried giving the players off between games, and he’s tried practicing between games. Some practices have been boisterous, with him loudly barking orders, and others have been much more docile. None of it has seemed to work, at least not on a consistent enough basis.
And let’s not let management off the hook here, either. General manager Lou Lamoriello’s reluctance to do, well, anything, may finally be catching up with the team. There’s just not enough depth here. God love Hudson Fasching, who’s worked hard and been effective, but Fasching should not be on one of the power-play units. Simon Holmstrom gave the team some responsible two-way minutes after he was recalled, but before getting hurt he managed just one goal and one assist in 14 games.
Lamoriello’s solution to try and add depth to the Islanders’ roster in the offseason included signing Fasching — a good acquisition so far, although not exactly a franchise-altering one; signing Nikita Soshnikov, who’s already back in the KHL, and re-signing Kieffer Bellows, who was quickly waived and claimed by Philadelphia. Why he didn’t do more was a question at the start of the season, and it looms even bigger now.
Advertisement
Perhaps some of the veteran players on the team are a bit too comfortable. That, again, is a reflection on management and the coaching staff. Lambert attempted to make a point early when he scratched Josh Bailey just before his 1,000th NHL game (and a couple more times in the following weeks), as well as removed Anthony Beauvillier. Now? There’s no way he can afford to do that with no one else left to play other than Ross Johnston, who it’s already clear is not someone that Lambert wants to put in the lineup.
The injury excuse doesn’t fly here, either. Yes, the Islanders are still missing some key pieces. Adam Pelech hasn’t been heard from since Dec. 6, a month ago (which apparently isn’t a long-term injury, at least by the organization’s standards). But according to NHL Injury Viz, the Islanders aren’t even in the top half of teams that have been adversely affected by man games lost.
NHL injury summary through 5 January
Capitals reach halfway with more MGL than 15 of their past 21 full seasons and a higher $-weighted number than all but last year's (which they'll pass this week) – cap growth part of that, obviously, but way ahead of most years pic.twitter.com/qxdpt9Jl9F
— NHLInjuryViz (@NHLInjuryViz) January 6, 2023
The squandered points earlier in the season against such non-playoff teams as Arizona (twice), Nashville (twice), Florida (twice), Detroit and Philadelphia are catching up with them in the standings now. That shouldn’t be a surprise. What should be is that it’s still happening midway through the season with what is a veteran club that should know better.
Maybe the Islanders will find a way to play more consistently over the second half. Maybe Lamoriello will decide that this roster needs help, and go out and acquire a forward or two. Maybe once they are healthy they will play better, although simply waiting around and hoping everyone becomes available is a pretty risky way to do business.
In the meantime, there is too much evidence at this point that the Islanders aren’t worthy of being considered a real threat to win the Stanley Cup as currently constructed. And considering the age of the roster and the lack of high-end prospects in the system, that’s still what they are supposed to be, isn’t it?
(Photo of the Calgary Flames celebrating Nikita Zadorov’s goal and a 3-0 first-period lead Friday against the Islanders: Sergei Belski / USA Today)
