Islanders head into offseason stinging from playoff loss

Days after being ousted from the playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes, Anders Lee and the New York Islanders are nonetheless coping with the stinging disappointment.

“It’s been a bummer of a few days, to be honest,” the Islanders’ captain stated Monday on the staff’s observe facility in East Meadow, New York. “I think we’re all just feeling it, feeling the loss and coming up short in the series. So we’re all just processing it right now and trying to bring everything together internally and mentally.”

The Islanders fell 5 factors out of a wild-card spot within the Eastern Conference after a tough stretch in January by which they misplaced 10 of 11 video games (1-7-3), placing their season at risk of spiraling out of the postseason image for a second straight yr after consecutive appearances within the semifinal spherical of the NHL playoffs.

They made a giant commerce to bolster the offense by getting Bo Horvat, however needed to take care of a number of accidents, particularly star middle Mathew Barzal lacking the ultimate 23 video games. However, they didn’t lose greater than three in a row once more, gained eight of their final 13 video games, and obtained some assist to earn a playoff spot with a win of their final sport.

“We found ourselves in a tough spot in January, somebody told me 6% or something was the odds to make the playoffs,” middle Brock Nelson stated. “The belief and the never-quit in this group is one of the bigger positives to take out of it.”

Against the Hurricanes, they suffered three one-goal losses, together with the series-ending Game 6, and located themselves with an anemic energy play that went 1 for 18 after changing on 15.8% of their possibilities through the season – higher than solely Anaheim and Philadelphia.

Despite a disappointing finish beneath first-year coach Lane Lambert, he has the gamers’ help.

“Lane did a phenomenal job,” Lee stated. “We had a lot of different swings throughout the season, a lot of different things that we had to handle, and he got us to a place that we were playing some of our better hockey down the stretch.”

With seven pending free brokers and 6 extra coming into the ultimate yr of their contracts, president and basic supervisor Lou Lamoriello could have some huge choices to make within the offseason.

“This is part of our business,” Lee stated. “Our goal is to get better and grow internally with what we have. Whatever happens in the summer, let’s move forward and go after this thing again. That’s what this is all about. We want to continue to improve each year.”

BRIGHT SPOTS

Nelson completed with profession highs of 39 assists and 75 factors, and his 36 objectives have been one in need of the career-best he set a yr in the past. Ilya Sorokin had a Vezina Trophy-caliber season, going 31-22-7 with a 2.34 goals-against common, .924 save proportion and 6 shutouts. Hudson Fasching had 10 objectives and 9 assists in 49 video games after coming in with one purpose and two assists in 38 profession video games over 5 seasons with Buffalo and Arizona.

BAILEY’S STATUS

Veteran ahead Josh Bailey was a wholesome scratch for all six video games of the first-round sequence after ending the season with 25 factors (eight objectives, 17 assists) in 64 video games – matching his lowest numbers in a season he performed greater than 40 video games.

Saying it was a “tough season,” the 33-year-old is unsure about his future. He has a yr left on a six-year, $30 million deal he signed in 2018 and is aware of he might be enjoying elsewhere subsequent season.

FREE AGENTS

The Islanders have two restricted free brokers: Oliver Wahlstrom (seven objectives, 9 assists in 35 video games) and Samuel Bolduc (two objectives, one help in 17 video games).

The record of unrestricted free brokers is longer, led by 38-year-old Zach Parise (21 objectives, 13 assists), veteran goalie Semyon Varlamov, defenseman Scott Mayfield and trade-deadline acquisition Pierre Engvall (5 objectives, 4 assists in 18 video games with Islanders). Fasching was additionally on this record till signing a two-year deal.

Varlamov, like Bailey, isn’t positive the place he’ll find yourself. He went 11-9-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .913 save proportion, however with Sorokin taking on in purpose, the 35-year-old Varlamov’s 22 begins have been the fewest since his rookie yr with Washington in 2008-09.