Eyes On Isles
Fansided

Islanders Most underrated players ever according to fans

By Michel Anderson

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 1: Stefan Persson #7 of the New York Islanders watches the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 1, 1982. (Photo by Graig Abel Collection/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 1: Stefan Persson #7 of the New York Islanders watches the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 1, 1982. (Photo by Graig Abel Collection/Getty Images) /
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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 21: John Tonelli takes part in a ceremony honoring his career with the New York Islanders that saw his jersey retired and raised to the rafters of NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on February 21, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 21: John Tonelli takes part in a ceremony honoring his career with the New York Islanders that saw his jersey retired and raised to the rafters of NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on February 21, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Kenny Jonsson

Percentage of vote: 9%

Kenny played huge minutes for the Islanders when he came over from the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1998-99 Jonsson averaged 24:59 a night for the Islanders. That’s some incredible work-horse level of ice-time.

Jonsson was never going to put up big numbers, but he was a steady presence on the back-end. If the opponents brought the puck into the Islanders zone, Jonsson would make sure to get back out. And he was pretty good at it.

He was quiet and soft-spoken which definitely helped him fly under the radar, but there were few players that were as good on both sides of the puck as Kenny Jonsson.

John Tonelli

Typically, the praise for the dynasty years goes to the big names: Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier. But there were 17 guys who were there for all four cups.

In 594 games with the Islanders, John Tonelli scored 544 points including a 93 point season in 1982-83 and a 42 goal and 100 points season in 1984-85. Come the playoffs, he’d score 83 points in 113 games, none more important that this assists on Nystrom’s 1980 Cup winner.

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Dave Langevin

There’s probably no Stefan Persson without Dave Langevin. His hard-hitting style of play made it difficult for opponents to find a safe space in the Islanders zone. That style allowed his defensive partner time to move the puck up the ice and into an attacking position.

Like most of the other names mentioned, Langevin didn’t put up the numbers that would jump out at you on the score sheet. But he played an important role on that second defensive pairing on those four cup teams next to Stefan Persson.

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