Can the Islanders Compete in the Atlantic?

Defense was our big problem all season in being competitive and we definitely fixed that problem since last year just by looking at the personnel changes. With nhl-aged-witt and ahl-gervais off the starting roster for next year and definitely not playing the majority of the nhl games next year, while being replaced by 2 legit top 4 d-men is enough to put a smile on any isles fan face. Then you add Sutton’s career year and meyer’s ok year(great for him) being replaced by a-mac who does his sutton’s job better then Sutton without being very physical and hillen who is a better all around player then meyer except in the hits department and you have a much better d-core then last year with better depth.

Starting D for last year and most of the season last year:
Witt-a man that never worked in Gordon’s system and had all his injuries and career blocked shots catch up to him bad the last 2 years. He played like a career ahl d-man last year.
Gervais-another bad season to add to his portfolio. He too played like a career ahl d-man last year.
Sutton/Meyer-Both played well but took way too many penalties then they should have(played like top 4 d-men, meyer borderline 4/5).

Replacements:
Eaton-Solid top 4 defensive defenseman, very smart and stays out of the box
Wizniewski-Top 4 d-man with top 2 potential, will be a replacement for sutton’s physical game while adding more offense that we were missing on the blueline last year. When looking at his +/- compared to minutes played, he is no question a top 4 d-man defensively/overall (whether ducks fans like to admit it or not with his departure, lol)
Jurcina-Career 6/7 nhl d-man. Stayed out of the p-box well last year. Has all the tools he needs to be a top 4 d-man except he doesn’t have passion or use them. Has a big shot but doesn’t use it much and has a big frame but doesn’t dive to block shots or hit people through the boards with it much. Hopefully ex-coach Gordon can light a fire under him to play with passion. Decent depth player at minimum.

Returning:
Streit-Top 2 guy in every sense of the word
Hillen-Top 4 potential he showed last year, just needs a little more maturing to be a steady top 4(arguable top 4 material now)
A-mac-Top 4 shutdown man without the offense
Martinek-Top 4 shutdown man without the offense when healthy
 

Our offense was never bad, it was just about average, and now it should be a bit better with the maturing of our young players. Other things we upgraded were toughness with gillies and konopka, something we lacked as some needed protection for our young guns. Other then that, SSNewDay for the most part.
And goalie, Lawson can no way play worse then biron did last year as our backup. So nice improvement there too.
So looking at it, yes I think we will be more competitive. Will we conquer the best division in the eastern conference? No, but we should give some great battles this year to these teams. We may even surprise a ton of teams if our young offensive players emerge to the stars we thought some of them to be.

PS-In your article it says the devils brought in Elias while most of us know he is a career devil, but your right on the arnott acquisition.

theycan expect some improvement from many of their players, as they grow together even more.
but I can not see more than a 10-12 point improvement in a year,

the whole DP thing is still hanging over the team, does he come back like last year and ruin the flow, and I am not even saying it was his fault. He played good for being out so long. still there is no doubt that the team played horrible after he came back.

Biron came up big at the en dof the year with some wins, who comes up this year if Rollie falters.

the big reason I think we finish with more points, is I think the team can avoid that long bad spell this season. I really think we should make the playoffs finally

but no way we have the means to beat the Devils and Pens yet

Pittsburgh, like the Yankees, aren’t going anywhere. But the others can be surpassed.

All the more reason to build slowly around youth and avoid wild free agency spending like the plague.

Think of the Rays…they play a distinct style that caters to their athleticism and youth. They’ve built through the draft (by choosing early often, and capitalizing on their opportunities. Evan Longoria and David Price are franchise players they can build around for years.

Their success was based upon the draft, but their success has brought in money, and that success (read: more fans, ticket sales, merchandise) should give them money to spend as the core ages to address weaknesses.

They still need a goalie, period. But Tavares is probably a franchise stud, Bailey likely is as well, and between Okposo, Schremp, Comeau, Macdonald, Hillen, Frans (!) and Moulson, a few major role players should emerge.

Add in Nino, Petrov, Hamonic, De Haan and Martin, it’s likely one or two of those four will turn into something as well.

They must find a goalie, DP or otherwise. But the pieces to the puzzle are likely here. NYI’s primary goal this year should be to develop the young talent on Long Island, figure out who fits where, and don’t be afraid to flip someone who doesn’t if it means bringing in a 1st or 2nd round pick.

Build a winner, money will come, and free agents will be easier to grab.

So the addition of Derek Boogaard should put them over the top.

I love this line so much.

As for the Atlantic, I think they’re bound to improve though I suspect it will still be the toughest part about their schedule. NYI-NYR seems to be destined for a series split these days and the rest will remain tougher than most of the NE and SE.

Of course part of the fun of this is there is so much untapped potential; so much is in the youngsters’ hands.

Against the Devils the Isles went 2-4
Rangers 3-3
Flyers 1-5
Pens 1-3-2

If I looked at this correctly the Islanders were in it till the end. If they make the playoffs this year (i think they will) then the patience we as fans had will have paid off. The idea is to improve in your own division and here are some things to look at:

Shootout losses
Sat, Oct 3 Pittsburgh L 3-4 SO
Wed, Nov 11 @ Washington L 4-5 SO
Losing 2 points to division teams is never a good thing.

OT Losses
Sat, Oct 24 Washington L 2-3 OT
Sun, Apr 11 Pittsburgh L 5-6 OT
The loss to Washington they were up 2-0 going into the third and the Pittsburgh game they came back from a 5-2 deficit.

One goal losses (regulation):
Fri, Nov 6 @ New Jersey L 1-2 Up 1-0 and lose 2-1
Wed, Nov 25 Philadelphia L 1-2 Up 1-0 and lose 2-1
Sun, Dec 27 Philadelphia L 1-2 came back to tie but gave up late goal in 2nd
Sat, Jan 30 @ Philadelphia L 1-2 down 2-0 scored one in 2nd
Tue, Mar 9 @ Philadelphia L 2-3 Up 2-0 lost 3-2
Tue, Mar 30 NY Rangers L 3-4 Up 2-0 went down 3-2 lost 4-3
Most of these losses resulted in a collapse in the second period.

With 6 regulation losses by one goal…… that resulted in 12 points not picked up and a playoff birth.
This is only for the East. Don’t forget that 6 of the first 9 losses were by one goal equaling 7 points lost to other teams.
So while the East has given us problems its really the second period when the damage was done.

Although the Islanders had a wonderful draft, the free agency period was disappointing

I think i have to reject your premise. I agree the draft was a good one, but the draft, like most, was most likely not going to make this a better team THIS season. Garth then added 3, count em, 3 decent D-men who are solid additions to the team. They WILL take some pressure off of Streit, and they give the kids a chance to develop properly. I do NOT consider that a “disappointing” FA period.