Islanders Facing Harsh Reality After Elimination

For the past few years, the New York Islanders have seemingly been in limbo.

Sure, the Islanders had made the playoffs in each of the past two years, but they were first-round exits both times. Their back-to-back conference finals runs in 2020 and 2021 are only getting further away, and the core players that made those runs possible are only getting older.

This year, it seems Father Time caught up to them.

The Islanders were officially eliminated from playoff contention following their 4-3 shoutout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. They had previously made the playoffs in five of the past six seasons.

When looking at what went wrong, it's impossible to ignore New York's atrocious special teams this season. The Islanders rank 31st in both power play (13.1 percent) and penalty kill (72 percent). They've also scored just 26 power play goals and allowed eight shorthanded goals, so their net power play is operating at a downright awful 8.9 percent.

Additionally, the Islanders have struggled to win close games this season. Their 12 overtime losses are tied for the most in the Eastern Conference and tied for fourth-most in the league. They've also lost 19 one-goal games and lost six games where they led entering the third period.

Also not helping matters is the fact that Mat Barzal, who's led the team in scoring in six of the past even seasons, hasn't played since Feb. 1, and that was his second major injury this year. New York was on a seven-game winning streak when he got injured, but has won just 10 of 28 games since.

The Islanders still have one of the best goalies in the game in Ilya Sorokin, who can hopefully return to Vezina-contender status after two relatively underwhelming seasons. They also now have two great prospects in Cole Eiserman, the No. 20 overall pick in last year's draft, and Calum Ritchie, who they acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline. Both of them could be in the lineup very soon, possibly even next season.

However, the reality is that a lot of this team is simply old. Four of their five highest-paid forwards are over 30, as are three of their four highest-paid defenseman. More damning than their ages is the fact that many of them are locked into long-term deals, some of which even go until 2030.

Lou Lamoriello is a Hall of Fame general manager, but there are some serious flaws in the roster he's built. Whether he or head coach Patrick Roy stick around remains to be seen, but no matter what, the Islanders will have to dig themselves out of a sizable hole.