Eastern Conference off-season recap: New York Islanders

The New York Islanders were the luckiest team of the off-season.

After back-to-back first-round losses in the 2023 and 2024 post-season, the New York Islanders missed the 2025 post-season outright. Is this the start of a rebuild or just a quick retool?

Let’s take a look at how the Islanders’ 2024-25 season went, what they did over the off-season, and how the team shapes up heading into 2025-26.

How the season went

In the pandemic-affected 2021 season, the Islanders took the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, to seven games. It was the second consecutive season the Islanders lost to the Lightning in the conference finals, and it was the peak of their window of contention.

The Islanders missed the post-season in 2021-22 with a 37-35-10 record, but returned to the playoffs in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, just to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Last season, the Islanders finished with a 35-35-12 record, giving them 82 points, the 10th fewest points in the league.

Before the trade deadline, they traded their assistant captain, Brock Nelson, to the Colorado Avalanche for picks, former Calgary Flame Oliver Kylington, and prospect Calum Ritchie.

Although the Islanders finished 10th, they beat the odds (3.5%) to land the first overall pick.

Drafted players

With the first overall pick of the 2025 draft, the Islanders drafted left-shot defenceman Matthew Schaefer. The 18-year-old missed most of the 2024-25 season due to a shoulder injury sustained in the 2025 World Junior Championship.

After a trade that we’ll get to in the next section, the Islanders also had the 16th and 17th overall pick, using those two picks to select Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson. In the second round, the Islanders drafted Russian winger Daniil Prokhorov.

Luca Romano was the Islanders’ third-round pick, followed by Tomas Poletin in the fourth round, Sam Lurila in the fifth round, Burke Hood in the sixth round, and Jacob Kvasnicka in the seventh round.

Trades

The question is, how did the Islanders acquire the 16th and 17th overall picks? Well, the Islanders’ lone trade this off-season saw them trade right-shot defenceman Noah Dobson to the Montréal Canadiens for those two picks, as well as former Flames’ prospect Emil Heineman.

Free agent signings

The Islanders were busier in the free agent market. When it opened on July 1, they agreed to terms with Tony DeAngelo, Ethan Bear, former Flame David Rittich, and Jonathan Drouin. The latter signed the largest contract of the bunch, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $4 million annually.

Moreover, the Islanders re-signed Kyle Palmieri to a two-year deal on May 30th with an annual average of $4.75 million. On Jun. 30, the Islanders re-signed Alexander Romanov to an eight-year deal worth $6.25 million, as well as Heineman to a two-year deal with a $1.1 million AAV.

Schaefer, Prokhorov, and Eklund signed their entry-level contracts. The Islanders also hired Mathieu Darche as their newest general manager.

Departures

The most notable departure from the Islanders was Dobson. Last season, the right-shot defenceman finished with 10 goals and 39 points, down from the 10 goals and 70 points in 2023-24.

Long-time Islander Matt Martin called it a career, while defenceman Mike Reilly signed a one-year deal with the Hurricanes. Moreover, they didn’t offer Lou Lamoriello another contract.

What the team look like heading into 2025-26

Down the middle, the Islanders feature Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Casey Cizikas. Drouin, Palmeiri, Anders Lee, and Simon Holmström make up their top-six wingers. In the bottom six, they have Anthony Duclair, Maxim Shabanov, Maxim Tsyplakov, and Heineman.

Their forward core is okay, but their defence is a little questionable. Romanov spearheads the defence, with DeAngelo, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Schaefer, and Scott Mayfield factoring into their blue line plans.

In net, the Islanders will roll with Ilya Sorokin and Rittich.