It is easy to sit back from a distance and pick apart what ails the last place New York Islanders. A year removed from a playoff appearance, the Islanders were expected to be a team on the rise.
Led by newly anointed captain, and reigning Hart Trophy nominee, John Tavares, the long-suffering Isles seemed to have finally turned the corner on two-plus decades of futility. An early season blockbuster trade swapping goal scorer Matt Moulson for the flashier sniper Thomas Vanek would presumably make the team faster and deeper. Unfortunately the fortunes of Long Island’s favorite sons have again headed south for the winter.
Head coach Jack Capuano had been hailed as somewhat of a savior for his ability to get the most out of his scrappy bunch. Now the embattled coach finds his head squarely on the chopping block after a 10-game losing slide dropped the Isles deeper into the depths of the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders have their cross-state pals in Buffalo to thank for saving them the shame of owning the NHL’s worst record.
A Tuesday night win over the oft-mighty, sometimes-peculiarly-awful San Jose Sharks restored some confidence in the coach they call “Cappy”. The fact that a statement was issued as a “vote of confidence” speaks to the contrary and is often times the “kiss of death” before many previous coaches have been issued walking papers. Capuano should avoid making any plans with the Isles beyond next week. Buffalo’s former coach Ron Rolston savored a confidence-restoring road win over those same Sharks back in November before being canned a week later.
I’m not saying that Capuano is part of the problem, but he just might be. After all, is he the reason the Isles made the playoffs for the first time in five years? Probably not. Just in case Garth Snow was wondering, Peter Laviolette is currently looking for a job. The same Laviolette that won a Stanley Cup in Carolina and took the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final four years ago. Yes, the same Laviolette that had a winning record when he coached the Islanders from 2001-2003, and was two-for-two in playoff berths. That guy.
So how do the Islanders, right this ship? Apologies in advance for any more nautical metaphors that may be used. The first and most obvious issue is the defense and goaltending. With a goal difference of minus-31, 28th out of 30 teams, and a league worst 111 goals allowed, clearly the Isles need to fix the back end of the team.
Injuries can be blamed to a certain degree, but could anyone argue that Evgeni Nabokov and Lubomir Visnovsky are significant upgrades from the personnel on the ice? The bottom line is that general manager Garth Snow needs to part ways with some veterans or start giving the youth a chance for New York. Ryan Strome has finally been called up to the big club. After being the prospect that “couldn’t miss”, the 20-year old couldn’t ask for a better mentor than John Tavares. Shrouded in mystery for the better part of his young adult life, Islander fans have long awaited the arrival of the young man pegged to be the savior of the franchise, nay, the planet.
The problem is that Strome is a center. Sure it’s great if he can score, win face-offs and play a little defense, but he isn’t being used to block shots or make saves. The trial by fire in the New York net has been a lesson for youngsters Anders Nilsson and Kevin Poulin. Fair or not, the pair of 23-year olds has had to bear the brunt of a weak defensive corps. Neither one has shown any consistency, but over the course of their 10-game skid, it has been the offense that has let them down. With only two goals per game in their last 12 games overall, the goaltending could be turning the corner.
The blue line is where the biggest opportunity lies. Beyond a trio of 23-year olds (Travis Hamonic, Aaron Ness, Matt Donovan) and 22-year old Calvin de Haan, the Islanders have fossil/retread/traffic cone Matt Carkner as the veteran presence in the defensive end until Visnovsky and Brian Strait return from injury. That’s a lot of negative numbers in the plus/minus department back there.
What Snow needs to do is unload some wingers as trade bait while there is still value. The season may be too late to salvage, though the Isles are only 13 points out of a playoff spot. Veteran wings like Michael Grabner and pending free agent Vanek could surely fetch a couple of serviceable defensemen. Plus the addition of Strome gives the Islanders a wealth of centers, making Peter Regin, Frans Nielsen or possibly prospect Brock Nelson expendable. It sounds a tad drastic, but could the team honestly do worse right now?
The Islanders move to Brooklyn next season, into the fancy new Barclays Center. It certainly won’t have the “charm” and the memories of Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but the franchise gets a clean slate of sorts with a chance to build a new history and in a sense shake off the culture of losing that has riddled the franchise since the glory days of the early 1980’s.
The centerpiece(s) are Tavares and possibly Strome, assuming that the 20-year old lives up to 1/25 of the Chuck Norris legend he is billed to be. Outside of those two players, there are movable parts that have done zero so far this season to convince that they are capable of winning together. In order for the change in success to match the changes in venue, the Islanders front office needs to act now.