The Hockey News’ NHL summer splash rankings continue with the New York Islanders at No. 24.
In this series, we’ve been putting the spotlight on each team’s off-season, going from the teams that got the worst to the best. To arrive at those conclusions, we’ll be analyzing all notable additions and departures, including trades and free-agent additions, departures, hirings and firings.
We’re already in the big group of teams that have stayed the same for the most part.
At the bottom of this article, you can see the teams that finished lower than the Islanders. But right now, we’re going to get things started by focusing on the Isles.
Additions
Jonathan Drouin (LW), Emil Heineman (LW), Maxim Shabanov (RW), Matthew Schaefer (D), Adam Boqvist (D), David Rittich (G), Mathieu Darche (GM)
The Breakdown: The Islanders were tied for the NHL’s fifth-worst offense this past season, averaging only 2.71 goals-for per game. After the Islanders announced Lou Lamoriello wouldn’t return as GM-president, former NHLer Darche immediately went through trades and free agency to add three NHL-caliber forwards to boost their production.
Drouin resuscitated his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche, posting a combined 30 goals and 93 points in 122 games over the past two seasons. The 30-year-old should be part of the Islanders’ top-six forwards and a fixture on the power play. Meanwhile, Heineman – acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent star defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens – will make the Isles’ bottom six younger and faster.
Russian sniper Shabanov joined the Islanders after thriving in the KHL. The 24-year-old is a skilled player who could get power-play time, but the 5-foot-8 right winger must prove he can handle the physicality.
The Isles’ defense looks significantly different with the departure of Dobson and the additions of first overall draft pick Schaefer and former Florida Panthers blueliner Boqvist.
Finally, Darche added goaltending insurance with the signing of journeyman netminder Rittch, since Semyon Varlamov may or may not be recovered from injury this upcoming season.
Departures
Matt Martin (LW), Hudson Fasching (RW), Noah Dobson (D), Mike Reilly (D), Lou Lamoriello (GM)
The Breakdown: The changes for the Islanders started at the top with Lamoriello after not being able to keep the Isles in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Also, veteran enforcer Martin retired, and the Islanders’ defense corps took a huge hit with the departure of Dobson, who was their most-used D-man at an average of 23:16 of ice time in 71 games this past year.
You can make an argument that the Isles effectively replaced Dobson with Schaefer, but that’s asking an awful lot of an NHL rookie who won’t turn 18 until September. Schaefer is also a left-handed defenseman, while Dobson played on the right. Dobson was an RFA, but he had 70 points in 2023-24 before dropping to 39 points this past season.
Losing UFA Fasching and new Carolina Hurricanes D-man Reilly won’t hurt all that much, as both players were fringe contributors last season. But the loss of Dobson looms large over the Islanders at the moment.
Trading Dobson was probably the right thing to do as this Isles franchise shifts its focus to the long term with a new GM, but that doesn’t mean trading him isn’t going to take a toll on the Islanders’ back end in 2025-26. Schaefer eventually will be their top blueliner, but as he adapts to the NHL game, there’s going to be a grey period in which the Isles struggle in their zone.
The Bottom Line
The Islanders were one of the more active teams in trades and free agency this summer. That said, we’re ranking who got better or worse for this upcoming season.
They’re worse on defense for 2025-26. Their additions on offense should help, but it’s tough to say at the moment whether the team overall will improve if the back end can’t hold the fort. In the grand scheme of things, Darche has begun the painful process of pressing reset on the Islanders and focusing on refreshing the core and depth of his team.
That said, the Islanders are still very much a team of veterans, including captain Anders Lee, star center Mat Barzal, center Bo Horvat, defenseman Ryan Pulock and goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
This is a team in transition, and Darche has been tasked with making the Islanders into a legitimate Cup threat, even if it means struggling in the early stages. They’re nowhere close to being a Cup front-runner right now, but with the development of youngsters like Schaefer, the Isles should eventually be a better team and a Metropolitan Division powerhouse. Right now, though, their changes in this off-season have them well behind the league’s teams that have clearly improved.
The best you can say about the Islanders is they’re at about the same level as they were last year – but that still means they’re likely to miss the playoffs for the second straight season and the third time in the past five years. They’re 24th in the NHL summer splash rankings, but they’ve had a respectable off-season and appear to be on the right track.
Summer Splash Rankings
24. New York Islanders
25. Tampa Bay Lightning
26. Toronto Maple Leafs
27. Dallas Stars
28. Calgary Flames
29. Los Angeles Kings
30. Winnipeg Jets
31. Chicago Blackhawks
32. Buffalo Sabres
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