April 2, 2011, HockeyPrimeTime.com look at the New York Islanders' future

Islanders finish season with something to build on

Atlantic

Written by Denis Gorman

Friday, April 01, 2011 23:35

The playoffs won't visit Long Island this year, but 2010-11 wasn't a total bust. With a young core that rebounded for a strong second half, plenty of cap space and a No. 1 defenseman returning from injury, the Islanders' immediate future is bright. The game had already been decided with 130 seconds left when a frustrated group of New York Islanders began to wrestle with their New York Rangers counterparts. As the teams grappled and exchanged insults, the Madison Square Garden faithful amused themselves by proclaiming the Islanders’ 2010 campaign “over” in sing-song fashion. Ostensibly, yes, the 6-3 loss to their urban rivals March 13 ended the playoff hopes of Long Island’s lone professional sports franchise. AROUND THE ATLANTIC At a home game nine days later, the end became reality when James van Riemsdyk tallied his first NHL hat trick in a 4-1 win by the Philadelphia Flyers. The loss, coupled with the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, officially guaranteed that the Islanders would miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. It would be easy to view the Islanders’ 2010-11 season under the usual black-and-white, “what have you done lately?” prism. In this case, though, that would be a mistake. The Islanders lost 20 of 21 games between Oct. 23 and Dec. 13 — a near two-month run of misery which cost Scott Gordon his job as head coach. The Islanders then compiled a 24-17-7 mark in the 48 games spanning Dec. 16 and April 29. But as GM Garth Snow and interim head coach Jack Capuano have repeatedly attested, the organization is committed to player development. The franchise considers itself well-stocked in the junior and minor-league ranks with Nino Niederreiter, Brock Nelson, Calvin de Haan and the enigmatic Kirill Kabanov, amongst others. The cupboard should add another youngster at the June draft in Minnesota. The Islanders have the fifth-worst record in the league and that should position them for yet another early first-round draft selection. The hockey operations folks seem to trust that their not-yet-ready-for-prime-time-talent will eventually mix with a corps that has two 30-goal scorers – Calder Trophy candidate Michael Grabner and winger Matt Moulson. John Tavares, the 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick, could make that duo a trifecta; he has 27 goals this season. Blake Comeau has scored 21 goals in 71 games while P.A. Parenteau is one goal shy of 20. Defensively, the partnership of Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic has impressed as a young shutdown pair. Both have played physically against some of the NHL’s premier lines, having driven the Los Angeles Kings’ top line of Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth and Dustin Brown to distraction in a 3-0 win at the Coliseum on Feb. 19. MacDonald and Hamonic should improve going into next season, as will the defensive corps as a whole and a power play helped by the return of Mark Streit. Streit has missed the entire season with a torn labrum and rotator cuff suffered during training camp. Perhaps the most intriguing on-ice positional battle will be in goal. Kevin Poulin impressed with a 4-2-1 mark, .920 save percentage and 2.44 goals-against average in the 10 games he played before being lost for the year with a dislocated kneecap. Al Montoya, who recently signed a one-year deal, seems to have revived his career in Uniondale after becoming an afterthought in Phoenix. Montoya is 8-4-4 with a 2.35 GAA and .920 save percentage. One of the two will probably ply his trade at AHL Bridgeport next season, because Rick DiPietro has 10 years and $45 million left on the massive contract he signed in the summer of 2006. DiPietro has played in 161 of a possible 410 games in five years since. It would be reasonable to assume that the Islanders will shy away from signing a free agent or two to a long-term, big-money deal, thanks to a history that includes DiPietro and Alexi Yashin. Yashin agreed to a 10-year, $71.5 million contract with the Islanders in 2000-01. He recorded 119 goals in 346 games with the franchise before playing out the final four years of the deal in the KHL. Yashin's contract expires this summer and the Islanders will have even more cap flexibility to add multiple players to strengthen its core group. It would behoove the franchise to spend some of the $29 million it will have in cap space on a young, high-end free agent, if only to send a positive signal to a loyal fanbase that can instantly recall the glory days of Bossy, Potvin, Smith and others. The crop of soon-to-be unrestricted free agents will be top-heavy and somewhat older. That might not work with the Islanders’ build-for-tomorrow approach, but the Restricted Free Agent market offers a more promising list of high-end young talent including Shea Weber and Zach Parise. The future is coming for the Islanders and it appears to be strong. The time is nigh for the franchise to go all-in and re-create its once great dynasty. Notes NHL.com reported Wednesday that Sidney Crosby’s doctors gave the superstar and the Pittsburgh Penguins clearance for him to practice and travel with the team. … The New York Post declared the New Jersey Devils’ playoff hopes DOA after back-to-back shutout losses over the weekend to Pittsburgh and Buffalo. … Philadelphia Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann wrote following Philadelphia’s 2-1 loss to the Bruins that the Flyers’ post All-Star Weekend lethargy is the result of a team already looking toward the playoffs. … The Rangers have lost back-to-back games, falling into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, after winning eight of their previous 10 games. On Twitter: @HockeyPrimeTime and @DenisGorman Photos by Getty Images

Last Updated on Saturday, April 02, 2011 02:01

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