The New York Islanders continue to attempt rebuild
Still with work to do this off-season, New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow can safely look at his team and be assured that they are heading in the right direction, but will probably have to wait a c ouple of years before his moves pay off.
Although the Islanders are not going to win the Eastern Conference next season, or challenge for their division title over the next few years, they are still a team capable of positive growth in the 2010-11 season.
Next year will be the second in a major rebuild for an Islanders organization that has not had much to be hopeful for over the past 10 seasons. Now with future stars such as John Tavares in their ranks, Islanders fans can finally start getting exciting about the future of hockey on Long Island.
Roster changes
The Islanders’ line-up remains relatively in tact, with the exception of the departure of Andy Sutton and long-time Islander Richard Park. In addition, veteran and captain Doug Weight has yet re-signed with the club, and it is uncertain as to whether or not the two sides will come together before puck drop in October.
Snow brought in a couple new faces to fill the holes, trading for former Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski, and bringing in hulking defender Milan Jurcina.
Forwards
Upfront the Islanders are incredibly young, perhaps only trumped in their inexperience by the Edmonton Oilers. The first line should stay the same as 2009-10, after Tavares, Matt Moulson, and Kyle Okposo surprised the league with their productivity last year. After the first unit, it is not clear where the remainder of the Islanders youngsters will slot in. Nevertheless, it is likely that Frans Nielsen, and Rob Schremp will get a chance on the second scoring line, while rookie Nino Niederreiter, could see time between he team’s first and second lines. In addition Joshua Bailey, Trent Hunter and Blake Comeau may get shots at second line duty. Even the team’s third and fourth lines are very unclear.
The Islanders have a lot to work out in training camp come September.
Defence
Slightly older and more organized than the forward group, the defence should bring a level of experience to New York next season.
The first pairing is expected to house all-star Mark Steit, and the newly acquired Wisniewski. The second defensive pair will feature former Pittsburgh Penguin Mark Eaton, and Jurcina. The third pairing meanwhile is up for grabs, as Jack Hillen, Bruno Gervais, Andrew MacDonald and Radek Martinek will all vie for the last two spots during camp.
Goalie
The question, as always, for the Islanders will be how healthy is Rick Dipietro?
Dipietro has only played in 13 National Hockey League games over the past two seasons, and is always a question mark heading into every campaign.
Nevertheless, if Dipietro is healthy, one can expect him to split time with Dwayne Roloson, as the franchise attempts to slowly re-introduce him to NHL hockey. If Dipietro goes all year without an injury expect him to appear in close to 50 games. However, if he gets injured it will be veteran Roloson logging major minutes.
Can the Islanders improve on last season?
Last year the Islanders finished in 13th with 79 points. Unfortunately the Eastern Conference has improved, and their division may now be the best in the league. New York will have a tough time winning their divisional games, and that will hurt their record. In addition, the team they finished ahead of, the Toronto Maple Leafs, have also gotten better.
If the Islanders hope to move up in the standings they will need outstanding seasons from the three members of their top line, while getting the necessary depth scoring from their supporting cast.
On defence the Islanders are likely to struggle. Here Snow will also have to hope that his youngsters can have break-out seasons.
Expect the Islanders to struggle next season, and either remain in 13th or drop one spot to 14th.
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