Programming note to start: First, thank you, as always, to all our subscribers, especially the paid subscribers who supported this publication all season.
It was a wild, unpredictable ride, and hopefully, I helped take you on that journey, capturing the fan sentiment and emotion along the way. As has been customary, the off-season cadence won’t be daily, but you can still expect newsletters in your inbox when there is news to cover or a perspective to give.
LGI,
-JB
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Meeting expectations is good; exceeding expectations is better.
For the most part, the 2023-24 New York Islanders met the expectations of most and exceeded the expectations of others. The only expectations they didn't meet were likely their own, and that's the way it should be for every team that has a chance at winning the Stanley Cup and falls short.
If you went back to the various predictions made by publications prior to the start of the season, the consensus was that the Islanders were to finish somewhere between 90-95 points and compete for one of the final playoff spots with a number of teams. That list ranged from the improved Pittsburgh Penguins to the upstart Buffalo Sabres or Ottawa Senators. Some thought the Detroit Red Wings would crack into the post-season, while others thought correctly the Washington Capitals had enough veteran talent to squeak in.
When using that as context, it's hard to be disappointed in how the season turned out. Sure, you could be upset and frustrated by losing to the Carolina Hurricanes for the second straight year, but can you really call the season a disappointment?
If the answer is no, then that's part of the problem.
The Islanders are not a Stanley Cup contender, nor are they expected to be. The realistic objective over the last two seasons has been to make the playoffs and take a shot at beating a better team or two in a long, hard-fought series. The Islanders are recognized as a "tough out," which is another way of saying they're not as talented as their playoff opponents. This strategy worked for them in 2020 and 2021, but it's now been three seasons with a total of three playoff wins.
You'd have to go back to 2018-19, the first year under Barry Trotz, as the last time the Islanders had a sustained great regular season. They finished with 102 points and earned home ice in the first and second rounds of the playoffs. The franchise hasn't won a division title since 1987-88.
The fanbase wants to enter the season knowing, not hoping they'll be a playoff team, and they want to enter a playoff series as the favorites for a change. Wouldn't that be nice? The expectations are higher in the dressing room than they are on the outside, but recent history has proved that the perceived ceiling for the Islanders is there for a reason.
We don't know what to expect this offseason, but if the talent level of the roster isn't raised, neither will the expectations.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, after Tuesday’s 6-3 loss, the Isles are 7-10 in game 5 when trailing a series 3-1. Carolina is now 9-1 all-time when scoring first in a potential clinching game (the loss was in game 4). The Isles played Carolina nearly even at 5-on-5 (outscored 9-8) but allowed three empty net goals, a sixth attacker goal, five power-play goals, and a penalty shot. It was the second multi-assist playoff game for Ryan Pulock. Mike Reilly's goal was the only one scored by an Islander defenseman in the series.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On May 2, 1993, The underdog Islanders, inspired by the absence of injured star Pierre Turgeon, got shorthanded goals from Ray Ferraro and Benoit Hogue to surprise the Mario Lemieux-less Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, in Game 1 of the Patrick Division finals. Defenseman Vladamir Malakhov also scored for the Isles, who got 28 saves from Glenn Healy the win.
🎧 Islanders Anxiety - An Appropriately Cruel Ending “Mike and Dan react the Islanders' season-ending 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes, and all the bad luck and blood-from-a-stone tries they saw throughout the series.”
🔗 Islanders likely to make changes next season despite late-season surge by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Whether or not that will be seen by management as enough to run things back for another year is impossible to say with certainty at this point, but this does feel like a junction at which bringing the band back together would be a hard sell for the fan base, at least.”
🔗 How the NY Islanders Can Re-Open Their Winning Window by Joe Lazar, Eyes on Isles “While the big-picture view of the last six years is very positive for the organization, it gets murkier when you consider the last three years. These seasons ended the following ways: missed the postseason; backed into the postseason on a crazy Pittsburgh loss to Chicago and then lost in Round 1; made the playoffs in the weakest Wild Card race in memory and were a nonfactor in Round 1.”
And we leave you with this…a big thank you to the MSG Networks crew!
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