New York Islanders 2013-14 Season Primer

• Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:

  After five seasons of early exits, the New York Islanders, led by John Tavares and Matt Moulson, finally managed to make the playoffs and even took two games against the heavily favored Pittsburgh Penguins before eventually falling in the first round. But can they take another step forward, especially after the loss of captain and leading defenseman Mark Streit?

  If they do, it will be thanks in large part to Tavares’ efforts. He’ll celebrate his 23rd birthday on Sept. 20, but he’s already transitioned from promising prospect to NHL superstar. He finished just shy of recording a point-per-game in each of his last two seasons and is projected to set a new career-high in 2013-14.

  The loss of Streit can’t be ignored, although the presence of defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky makes it bearable. You could be forgiven if you thought that Visnovsky didn’t want to be a member of the New York Islanders, given that he attempted to invalidate the trade that originally sent him there and then initially refused to report to the Islanders after the lockout ended. However, in the latter case, he had a family medical issue that took precedence and he eventually demonstrated his commitment to the Islanders by signing a two-year extension. Now with that rough season out of the way, he should be able to step up as the leading offensive defenseman.

  Ultimately, like so many other teams, it is goaltending that will make or break them. They don’t need Evgeni Nabokov to be great, but they do need him to remain solid at the age of 38. Even that is far from a certainty, especially given how many offensive heavyweights are in the Metropolitan Division.

• Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:

  Dobber’s lowdown on: Cal Clutterbuck – Clutterbuck and Martin could be 1-2 in the entire league in 2013-14 in hits. But besides the body checks, Clutterbuck has shown signs that he can be a 40-point player. He still isn’t in his prime and he scored 19 goals and 34 points in 2010-11. But that was B.T. (Before Tavares). Now he’s playing on Tavares’ team and there is one good reason to think that he’ll at least get a long look on his line. They were linemates before. In Oshawa (OHL), the two worked very well together. And a grinding, hard-hitting linemate is just what Tavares needs to free up some space. That’s not to say that Clutterbuck sees power-play time. But this could be an Alex Burrows situation in that a gritty checker racks up the points because he’s playing with star players at even strength. So instead of a potential 40-point player, he’s now a potential 55-point guy.

  Grabner had seven points in 10 games while Bailey was sidelined (knee surgery), but just 14 in 35 after that. He’s a thirdline penalty killer and that’s how he is used, unless circumstances force otherwise.

  Hamonic’s best season was his first one – 26 points in 62 games. That’s also the season that Mark Streit didn’t play, due to injury. Streit is gone now (Philadelphia) and I think Hamonic will get much of that key ice time. MacDonald also had his best year in the Streit-less 2010-11 so his numbers should get back up there as well.

  In Minnesota, Bouchard wasn’t playing like he was in his pre-concussion days. He was a healthy scratch for three straight games in March and then when he returned he posted nine points in six games. The talent is still there, he may just be a little tentative.

  Bailey has really come along since being moved to the wing a year and a half ago. But he needs to get off to better starts. His entire career so far has consisted of strong March/April months but weak before that. Last year he finished with 14points in his last 20 games.

Follow link for more info and stats

Additions: F Pierre-Marc Bouchard, F Chris Bruton, F Cal Clutterbuck, F Joe Diamond, F Peter Regin.

Subtractions: F Keith Aucoin, F Sean Backman, F Brad Boyes, F Brandon DeFazio, G Rick DiPietro, F Shane Harper, F Jesse Joensuu, D Brenden Kichton, D Jon Landry, D Radek Martinek, D Nathan McIver, F Nino Niederreiter, F Marty Reasoner, F Blair Riley, D Mark Streit, F Matt Watkins, D Ty Wishart.

Promotion candidates: C Brock Nelson, C/RW Ryan Strome, C Anders Lee, D Griffin Reinhart, D Matt Donovan, D Aaron Ness

Player salaries: $44,431,500 (23)
Cap Number: $49,496,976
Bonuses: $850,000
Cap Space: $15,653,024
Forwards: $30,820,833 (14)
Defensemen: $12,644,643 (7)
Goalies: $3,827,500 (2)
Source: CapGeek

Forwards
Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner – Ryan Strome – Cal Clutterbuck
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin McDonald
Peter Regin – Eric Boulton

Defensemen
Andrew MacDonald – Travis Hamonic
Lubomir Visnovsky – Brian Strait
Matt Donovan – Thomas Hickey
Matt Carkner

Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov
Kevin Poulin

2013 New York Islanders Draft Results 

New York Islanders Top Prospects

2012-13 New York Islanders Player Stats

Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.