NEW YORK, NY — The Islanders new era begins with rookie GM Mathieu Darche and defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Schaefer was the fifth No. 1 pick in Islanders franchise history and the second defenseman, following franchise icon and four-time Stanley Cup champion Denis Potvin.
Schaefer had a great camp, according to the GM Darche, who said, “his skating abilities, he got better as camp went on, so he proved he deserves to be in the lineup October 9.”
Image Credit: NHL
The last line of defense will again be star goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who has the fourth-highest save percentage since entering the league in 2020-21 and needs six wins to move into third place on the all-time franchise list. The returning cast of key forwards includes 2024-25 Islanders leading scorer Bo Horvat, flashy forward Mathew Barzal and captain and nine-time 20-goal scorer Anders Lee. Anthony Duclair injured his groin five games into last season, and missed the rest of the year.
Maxim Shabanov made a big impression at rookie camp after the 24-year-old, a native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, signed a one-year contract on July 2, after playing three seasons for Traktor in the Kontinental Hockey League. He had 67 points 23 goals, 44 assists in 65 games last season and 20 points, 10 goals, 10 assists in 21 playoff games to help Traktor reach the Gagarin Cup finals.
Image Credit: NHL
Shabanov has been compaired to Artemi Panarin. Semyon Varlamov hasn’t played since November 29 and is skating on his own. The Islanders signed David Rittich, an NHL veteran, who played for the Los Angeles Kings last season in 34 games 16-14-2, 2.84 GAA, and a 88.7 save percentage. Calum Ritchie acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for Brock Nelson, a big power forward, has a lower-body injury heading into the season.
The Islanders were 31st with a 12.6 percent success rate on the power play last season, down from 19th, 20.4% in 2023-24. The penalty kill was next to last at 72.2 percent after being last 71.5 percent the season before. The Islanders hired two new assistant coaches, Bob Boughner, who has NHL head coaching experience and Ray Bennett, a long time NHL assistant coach known to be good in impacting the power play.
Image Credit: NHL
As he entered his third season as Islanders head coach, Patrick Roy didn’t always agree with former general manager Lou Lamoriello on the style of play and team roster. Considering some breaks and how Schaefer adapts to the NHL, Barzal must have a comeback season.
All in all, the Islanders could be in the playoff mix.
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