New York Islanders: Metropolitan Division Favorites

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Islanders have had a very busy off-season, bringing in veterans to compliment a core of homegrown players. The team, on paper, has been improved dramatically over the 2013-14 version, but a question remains; is this team the best in the Metropolitan Division?

Yes it is.

The Isles had three major weaknesses to address this offseason, and they checked them all off of the list.

Goaltending has been an issue on Long Island since Rick DiPietro‘s health concerns began in the mid-2000’s. The team received sub-standard goaltending last year, with Evgeni Nabokov, Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson carrying the load. This organization could not afford to continue to be weak between the pipes if they were looking to take the next step. General Manager Garth Snow went out an made a deal to bring in Jaroslav Halak, whom the Isles then signed to a multi-year deal, to solidify their goaltending situation. Halak has posted very good numbers during his career, but has never been a true number one for any extended period, until now. As an insurance policy the team also brought in veteran backup Chad Johnson, who is coming off of his best year as a pro.

The next item on the list was to bring in some secondary scoring to take some pressure off of captain John Tavares and his running mate Kyle Okposo. Snow will look to Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolay Kulemin to recreate the chemistry they showed when they played together for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and provide some extra scoring  punch to the Isles second line. Those two will also allow incumbent players like Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner to slot in to third line roles, where they are more suited to play.

The acquisitions of Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk yesterday via trades (with the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, respectively) added two Stanley Cup winning defensemen to a d-corps that was in serious need of some reinforcements. It also completed the off-season wish list for Garth Snow and the fan base. The Isles have a wealth of defensive prospects, but they are not ready to take the leap and become top 4 caliber NHL defensemen just yet, both Boychuk and Leddy can do just that.

Prior to yesterday’s bolstering of the blue line the Isles had an excellent off-season. With their newest additions the Isles have gone from playoff hopefuls to a team that will be jockeying for seeding in the top of the division. No other Metropolitan division team has improved as much as the Islanders this off-season. Heck, no other team in the NHL has improved as much as the Isles have this off-season.

Snow addressed every need the team had coming into the season by adding not one, but two proven players at each level. This is no longer a club that will accept a playoff berth being good enough in their final season at the Nassau Coliseum, they are looking to build something special in 2014-15.

Is this team without flaws? Absolutely not. You can point to the fact that Halak has never played 60 games in a season before, something he will likely be asked to do for this Isles team, and that they still lack a true number one defenseman, as reasons why this team may not be the best the Metropolitan division has to offer. However, The offense this team should generate will be more than enough to compensate for those shortcomings.

It’s true that the Isles do not have the defense or goaltending of the Rangers, but their scoring output should be considerably better than that of the Blueshirts. They also may not have the one-two punch Pittsburgh enjoys with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, but Tavares and Okposo will have better scoring depth behind them, and a far superior defense and goaltending situation.

This new Islanders roster has something that the team has sorely lacked for years: balance. They will not need Tavares to carry them every night to be successful, they can lean on others to help shoulder the responsibility from time to time.

This team may not be the best at anything in this division, except the one thing that counts most: winning hockey games, and I anticipate them doing that more than any of their Metropolitan rivals.