New York Islanders fans have had it, and Anders Lee’s comments following Tuesday’s dud against the Seattle Kraken appear to have made it worse. The captain took the moral high ground and praised his team’s comeback in the second period after falling behind 1-0, but they lost 2-1 in a shootout and have now dropped two in a row.
“We did a really good job of making sure we stuck in this game and got ourselves a point tonight,” Lee said.
What Islanders Fans Are Saying
It was the wrong thing to say and seemed to promote a losing mentality. Islanders fans didn’t want to hear it and vented their frustration on X (formerly known as Twitter). Plus, not only are the Kraken out of a playoff position, but it also played the night before compared with the Islanders, which were sitting on two days of rest. As a result, Islanders fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to vent.
One said: “You were home… vs a team that played last night. Holy sh**tballs. What loser quote.”
A second wrote: “Anders Lee sounds more like the captain of a sinking ship. Can’t take his “C” away, but he deserves to be torn a new “A” at this point.”
A third said: “Lee is not captain material…he just isn’t. Have always liked him…but his response unacceptable! We need a new captain…ASAP!”
Tuesday’s game was an opportunity to pick up two big points. Instead, the Islanders squandered it and now sit three points out of the final wild-card spot, and part of the frustration with Lee is his disappointing production. The 33-year-old has 20 points in 53 games, which is on pace for 31 points this season. Since tearing his ACL in 2021, Lee hasn’t been the same player, failing to live up to his seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million cap hit per season) signed in 2019.
Roy Disagrees with Lee
It’s not just the fans who disagree with Lee, as the players and the coach shared a different opinion.
“I think, at times, you got to look in the mirror and you got to have yourself ready,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said after the loss, who recently returned to the lineup after missing two dozen games this season.
“Each individual. It comes down to that. You got to put the willingness on yourself to be ready from the start,” he added.
Head coach Patrick Roy admitted that nobody in the locker room should be happy with the way the team played, saying, “We need to be better with that puck. We need to make better decisions. I mean, the fans were p**ssed, and I was also p**ssed because I thought that we didn’t do a good job.”
Stats Confirm Islanders’ Poor Performance
The stats back up the frustration. The Kraken had 69.39 percent of the expected goal (xGF%) share at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. On the season, the Islanders rank 22 in XGF% – which is something Roy has been tasked with fixing, and he wasted no time, forcing the players to go through an old-school bag skate the next day. It was his way of saying he would not put up with the BS.
Turnovers continue to be the Islanders’ kryptonite this season, ranking eighth in the league with 482, averaging over nine per game. Against the Kraken, they were an unmitigated disaster, giving the puck away 19 times. Mathew Barzal, Noah Dobson, and Scott Mayfield each had three turnovers.
But everybody needs to be on the same page. Lee didn’t mean any harm with his comments – but now isn’t the time to sugarcoat the situation, not when the team is struggling to find its game and losing contests that should have been won. Of course, Lee isn’t the only player on the team on a multi-year contract who is underperforming. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Pierre Engvall have combined for just 38 points in 2023-24 and are worth a combined $8 million against the cap per season.
It’s not going to get any easier for the Islanders from here. Next, they will face the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers in the NHL’s outdoor Stadium Series on Sunday. Time is running out to turn things around, and the further they fall down the standings, the harder it will be to justify a major move that would cost them a high draft pick.
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