Just a few weeks ago, the New York Islanders seemed to be a solid team on the upswing, who were in a good position to land a playoff spot, and convince soon-t0-be restricted free agent John Tavares to re-sign with their franchise. Oh, and they fixed that whole stadium issue too.
Suddenly, the team has lost five straight and are at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. Granted, they are just two points out of a playoff spot, but they are one of five teams competing for those final two spots. One has to wonder how Tavares will look at re-signing with the team if the Islanders find themselves out of the playoffs again? In fact, in his Sunday column, Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes the team is getting nervous about Tavares future. And since Tavares’ camp doesn’t want to talk about an extension during the season, the Islanders more and more, find themselves in a tough predicament. The scribe writes that as long as the team is within striking distance of a playoff spot, the Islanders and general manager Garth Snow won’t consider trading Tavares. But what if the team continues to slip? Can they really allow Tavares to walk away for nothing?
While the team have some key injury issues on defense, much of the issue falls on New York’s goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss, who have truly struggled. In 13 of the last 17 games, the tandem have allowed four or more goals. Their .8913 save percentage is 30th in the league (only behind Arizona), leading The New York Post’s Larry Brooks to point to poor decision making by Snow. Might the team have miscalculated on its defensive strength before they traded Travis Hamonic to Calgary? Why haven’t they upgraded their goalies after they struggled last year? Greiss has really struggled this year with a 3.89 GAA in 20 games this year, while Halak has been the star (sarcasm intended) with a 3.22 GAA in 26 appearances.
Injuries have also plagued the team who lost three more players Friday in their 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh, including wingers Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd along with defenseman Ryan Pulock. Bailey is out for today’s game. However, offense hasn’t been the problem. The team still is ranked among the best offensive teams, as they are currently tied for third for goals scored at 3.31. It’s the defense that hasn’t fared well. They are last (or first) in goal allowed as they’ve allowed an average of 3.64 goals against and by a wide margin. Arizona is second in goals against at 3.44. Granted two of their better defenders, Johnny Boychuk and Calvin de Haan have been injured. Boychuk has missed five games so far and might still miss a couple more, while De Haan is likely to miss extensive time and will be an unrestricted free agent himself.
Nevertheless, the team decided to stick with Snow last year after not reaching the playoffs and likely won’t make any major decisions until the Tavares dilemma is settled, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. The scribe writes that while Snow’s job should be unstable, the team probably won’t want to have the look of “starting over” when trying to make their franchise look as good as possible for their 27-year-old superstar. What the team, however, needs to do is to utilize the assets they got from the Hamonic trade and add some defense as quick as possible before their season and next few years falls apart.