In the 1980’s the NHL was owned by two franchises. In the early part of the decade, the New York Islanders’ dynasty was making a four-year championship run through the league.
The Edmonton Oilers supplanted them in the mid 80’s with Wayne Gretzky and company fronting what would be the last real “dynasty” in the NHL. A total of eight titles dominated the 1980’s between the two and no team has even approached that level of success.
The two franchises could not be further from the legacy they left behind three decades ago. In the last eight years, the once proud Oilers and Islanders have combined for two playoff appearances.
It’s fair to say that both clubs have been on the rebuilding path pretty much since the dissolution of their iconic championship rosters. In recent years particularly, the Islanders have teased the pundits with the construction of an exciting, but inconsistent roster.
After a return to the postseason in 2013 after their most recent five-year playoff embargo, the Islanders had won the hearts of their faithful once again. However, the weight of expectations seemed to take their toll on the Long Islanders and their young upstart team.
An injury to captain John Tavares during the 2014 Sochi Olympics put the final nail in a disappointing 2013-14 New York season. The plucky Islanders were left to watch their more glamorous neighbors in Manhattan play for the Stanley Cup. A few really solid moves this offseason however, could put the Isles right back into the playoff discussion.
As the new and improved Islanders were being constructed, Tavares was the obvious centerpiece. Wings were brought in, traded for and drafted to compliment their young star center while the defense and goaltending were neglected. Veteran goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was ridden for one playoff berth a year or two after he should have been put out to pasture.
This summer GM Garth Snow finally made a pair of great goaltending decisions. Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson were signed during free agency to protect the Islander net. Halak is a proven commodity and young enough to own the franchise tag if he can be consistent. Johnson could be a diamond in the rough, showing flashes of brilliance when he was called to spell Tuukka Rask in Boston.
Johnson will learn quickly that the New York Islanders defense is not built quite like the one he left in Boston. The corpse of Lubomir Visnovsky is still collecting a paycheck on the blue line with his untradeable contract and is a perpetual liability.
Coach Jack Capuano and Snow are hoping for a last hurrah where Visnovsky won’t be a complete encumbrance on the ice. If there is any area that the Isles have some vulnerability these days it will be on the blue line.
Travis Hamonic is establishing himself as one of the toughest defensemen to play against but Calvin de Haan, Brian Strait, Thomas Hickey and Matt Donovan are pretty unproven. Hickey had a solid first full season, but the jury is still out.
The jewel(s) of the Islander offseason could be the dynamic duo of Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. The silky duo toiled on teams that didn’t seem to want them last year and could be a two-tiered wild card for the Isles next season.
New York showed that they can score, even without Tavares, but their ability to keep the pucks out of the net always haunted them. Halak and Johnson provide an exponential upgrade in that department. Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen had breakout years and will only get better with the return of Tavares. If Kulemin and Grabovski can develop chemistry, this could be the best team in New York.