New Year’s Resolutions for the New York Yankees and all local teams

New York Islanders

I could give you a million goals for the New York Islanders. They have a lot of young talent, even seeing Devon Toews or Joshua Ho-Sang stay called up for the rest of the year would be ideal.

Then, throw in the fact that they still have a fighting chance at the playoffs and a goal could be to complete that quest.

The Islanders might not have a great team on paper, but boy do they look better on the ice. They have one of the best defenses in hockey.

Their defense is deceptively excellent. It was sloppy at first, but the one stat that tells is all is this.

The Islanders have the second least amount of goals allowed in the Eastern Conference at 2.65 per game. Only the mighty Boston Bruins give up less per game in the conference.

The Islanders might not excel at other things like a consistent power play, but they don’t give up a lot of goals. That and wins matter the most.

Overall, the Islanders are still in a spot where I am not sure whether they should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline in February.

I’d rather them keep most of the young talent they have, keep draft picks for Lou Lamoriello to use. However, if the Isles are on the inside of that playoff picture by that time, going for it all seems tempting.

But, due to the pettiness, due to what it would do for this team, and for the fans, there is one smaller picture revolution the Islanders should have in mind.

The Islanders already beat he who shall not be named in Toronto and it was glorious, probably their biggest win of the season.

So, their resolution, in my opinion, is the following:

New Year’s Resolution: Sweep the season series vs the Maple Leafs. They play each other two more times.