Reading social media this week, I saw that not only were Islanders fans happy about the season, but they also want the veterans back. I couldn’t believe what I read! Here’s why.
The Islanders completed a Mets-like collapse (think 2007, 2008, and 2025) by finishing the season losers of 10 of 14, including a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Patrick Roy was fired as their head coach on Easter Sunday.
It’s hard to say this season was a success based on that alone, and the veterans made a case that their services are no longer needed. The Islanders hired Mathieu Darche as president of hockey operations last year to provide them with direction. The time has come to do something.
The onus is on the organization to figure this out, not the players. We already know what the roster has done. There’s nothing else they can do.
It sure appears Darche may retool and keep the veterans, hoping the young players can keep it going and make the older guys’ jobs easy. Why else was Pete DeBoer hired to be the new coach with four games to go? If the team is rebuilding, there’s no way he would waste his time taking the Islanders’ job when better job openings await this offseason. Plus, it would be foolish to pay an experienced coach to overpay for a rebuild.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Islanders are likely not following the Yzerplan of rebuilding from ground zero. As Gil Martin mentioned on the Locked on Islanders podcast, the Islanders’ owners, Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin, want to get playoff revenue at UBS Arena, not to mention they don’t want to see empty seats at the four-year-old arena. They would rather see Darche do a half-rebuild.
It doesn’t work at all. If the team is going to rebuild altogether, youth must be served. This means the veterans can’t be there to poison the rookies by not being supportive enough and being selfish for their own good. This means winning can’t be a priority anymore.
The Islanders need to trade guys with value for draft picks. The more picks they accumulate, the better off they are going to be. They have guys who are tradeable that teams can use, such as Bo Horvat, Mat Barzal, and Ilya Sorokin.
For anyone who’s turned off by rebuilding after citing the struggles of the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Buffalo Sabres, I present the Philadelphia Flyers, who rebuilt quickly and made the playoffs. The New York Rangers rebuilt quickly, too, under Jeff Gorton and John Davidson.
It can work with the right people. Darche was hired to oversee change. If ownership wants to keep more of the same, there was no point letting Lou Lamoriello go. The Islanders could have stuck with him and hoped for the best.
How many more years can we tolerate the same old thing with nothing to show for it? These veterans failed time after time. They were terrible down the stretch. If the Islanders did not have a special season from rookie Matthew Schaefer, this team would be even worse.
The Islanders have been boring to watch in recent years with this aging roster. It really got old watching Horvat be useless come March and April. Seeing Barzal just skate rather than shoot caused enough consternation. To expect things to turn out differently with the veterans next season is insanity.
It’s hard to believe Darche wants to keep more of the same. He had a honeymoon phase this season, and now that’s over after his first year of the job. The fans should want some moves to make sure things get better. He would love to start overseeing changes, knowing that everything is now on his record.
It’s on ownership to let the Islanders’ hockey boss do his job. It’s up to Ledecky and Malkin to understand that this really isn’t working.
