New York Islanders Five Players Likely To Crack 50 Points In 2017-18

The New York Islanders had just three players crack the 50 point margin in 2016-2017. Here are five players likely to do it in 2017-2018.

John Tavares, Anders Lee and Josh Bailey were the only New York Islanders to finish with over 50 points. John Tavares wasn’t much of a surprise, the two shocks were Anders Lee and Josh Bailey. Bailey has been someone you could pencil in for about 12 goals and 35 points so to see him with 56 came as a bit of a shock.

Personally, I don’t think we see Bailey with another 50 point season this year so he doesn’t make this list. It was a parting of the sea’s if you will for Bailey last year. Playing on a top line with Tavares and Lee was a big benefit to his production.

With a likely demotion to the second or third line expecting that kind of production to continue this upcoming year is a bit much. So without further ado here are my five most likely players to eclipse the 50 point mark.

John Tavares

This was a pretty easy answer for me. Tavares has eclipsed the 50 point mark every year he’s played in the league except for 2012-2013 in the lockout-shortened season when he put up an impressive 47 points in 48 games.

Unless Tavares is injured and misses time he’ll hit the 50 point mark with ease. Last year on a “down year” Tavares put up 66 points. Personally, I’d like to see him back up towards the 80 point mark and I think that’s not too much of a stretch with who he’ll be playing with.

Playing between Anders Lee and the newest Islanders toy Jordan Eberle should yield an increase in point production.

Just like we know the sun is going to come up tomorrow we know Tavares is going to put up 50 points. This one is an easy bet.

Jordan Eberle

I’m very giddy thinking about Jordan Eberle playing next to John Tavares. Eberle put up 51 points last year in a “down year” so just imagine what he can do once the chemistry gets down with John Tavares.

He should be a lock for 25 goals in his first season with the orange and blue. Plus playing next to J.T. and the new scoring machine Anders Lee 25 assists seems pretty likely as well.

50 points isn’t lofty expectations when you think of it that way. Similarly to Tavares, this should be a given and if Eberle finishes with 50 on the nose I’d be a little surprised actually. Without giving away a true prediction just yet (you’ll have to wait until August for that) I’ll say this; Eberle’s career high is 76 points so using our best judgment 50 points is a pretty safe bet for Eberle also.

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Anders Lee

This one I’m not so sure on. Sure, Lee had a phenomenal year last year scoring 34 goals and putting up 52 points but can he recreate that? In 2015-16 he put up 36 points so does he fall back down to earth or maybe level out somewhere in the middle?

I think we see Lee’s goal total drop slightly in 2017-2018 but his assists may go up now that he’s playing with not one but two elite forwards.

With no disrespect to Bailey, he’s not the same caliber player of Jordan Eberle. So even if we do see the goal total take a slight hit, his overall point production might not drop off all that much. I think 50 points is around where Lee will finish, plus or minus a couple.

Josh Ho-Sang

Oh, Josh Ho-Sang is a fan favorite and a personal favorite here at Eyes on Isles. 50 points is pretty lofty expectations for a player’s first full season, but if Ho-Sang puts together the kind of dynamic play we saw out of him last year it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

Ho-Sang put up 10 points in 21 games last year. So, he’d need an uptick in production in order to get on that 50 point pace.

If he can take the next step in his growth quickly and develop on the fly this isn’t too unrealistic. It might be a tad on the high side for his first year like we said but once Ho-Sang peaks I think he’s a 60 point a year player anyway.

He’s a lot of fun to watch so I for one can’t wait to get 82 games of him.

Andrew Ladd

This one might be a bit of a surprise. Last year Ladd really underachieved point wise. He finished the year with 23 goals which was really unexpected after the slow start he got off to. It took 13 games for Mr. Ladd to get one past an opposing goalie.

I think this year, with his buddy Doug Weight in charge for a full year and a spot on the second line Ladd’s production increases.

He should eclipse 25 goal this year and if he plays with Brock Nelson and Ho-Sang (which looks like the likely line combination unless a trade happens) he should have some chances for assists. How he finished last year with only eight assists is still mind boggling to me.

Yeah, so Andrew Ladd is my sleeper to get over 50 points. The Islanders certainly paid him to produce so hopefully he starts to.

Next: Lee's Breakout Year

The Islanders have not had more than three 50 point players since the 2011-2012 season when John Tavares, Matt Moulson, P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner all eclipsed the 50 point mark. Hopefully, this is the year we see more than the new norm of three 50 point scorers.