Islanders: Top 5 Overrated Players In History

Who are the five most overrated New York Islanders in their franchise history? Disclaimer, Overrated doesn’t mean bad.

The New York Islanders have been in business for 47 seasons and have had thousands of players walk through their doors wearing the orange and blue. What I wanted to do was take a look at some of the most overrated, by either fans or the franchise, players in the team’s history.

Before I get killed, overrated doesn’t mean bad. Please keep that in mind, it means that fans or the team thought the individual was better than they actually were during their time with the team.

I actually like all the players on this list, and likely fall into the portion of the fanbase that overrated these players but when trying to put bias aside, these were the five names that I was able to come up with.

Now that I was able to soften the blow, let’s get into the list.

5. Rick DiPietro

This one falls into the category of the franchise overrating him. I think the fans actually do a pretty good job of rating him. He was a player that was pretty good when healthy whose career was derailed by injuries. In 2003-2004 and 2006-2007 specifically, DiPietro was steady in net for the Islanders.

He played 62 games in 06-07 and had a .919 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average as the Islanders made the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Rick was never worthy of the number one overall pick or the 15-year deal that he received from the franchise. For that reason, DiPietro is on the back half of this list for the franchise overrating him in two instances with franchise-altering decisions.

4. Matt Martin

Matt Martin is a bulldozer on skates. In his prime, he led the league in hits with 384 back in 2014-2015 and is well known for being on the “best fourth line in hockey” for the better part of a half-decade.

He’s a phenomenal human being off the ice and he loves Long Island, which is why he’s so popular with the fans. But especially now, when he’s less physical and doesn’t drop the gloves anymore he isn’t as feared as he once was as an enforcer. Great dude, love the guy, but his value on the ice is overrated.

3. Matt Moulson

Matt Moulson without John Tavares is like pancakes without the syrup, bland and boring. From 2010-2012 Moulson was a 30+ goal scorer for three straight seasons playing alongside John Tavares.

After he was traded away his career quickly derailed. He was never the same player away from JT, before or after his stint with the Islanders. Another fan favorite, but he was only as good as he was with the Islanders because of who he played next to.

2. Clark Gillies

Gilles won four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders, has his jersey retired, and is in the hockey hall of fame but he’s the perfect example of a good NHL player that is remembered for being great.

Would you classify Jakub Voracek, Jamie Benn, or David Krejci Hockey Hall of Famers? Well, they are all in sniffing distance of Clark Gillies 697 career points, which ranks 247th all-time in NHL history.

I know the argument is going to be that he’s won four cups and what have those guys ever done, which I get. I just would classify Gillies as a very good NHL player, a historic Islander, but in the HOF? I’m not so sure.

1 Bob Nystrom

Yes, the guy who scored the game-clinching goal to give the Islanders their first Stanley Cup is overrated. Again remember, overrated doesn’t mean bad. Because he scored that goal and because of his embodiment of Long Island he is remembered as a legend.

He’s a good player, and probably deserves his number retired, but he eclipsed 50 points just three times in his career. He’s a role player on one of the best team’s of all-time. That’s the brutally honest truth.

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So now that I undoubtedly ticked you off, who would you put on the list of the most overrated Islanders in their history?