Islanders: Best Player To Wear Number 2

Continuing our best of series, today we will look at the best player to wear number two for the New York Islanders in their history.

In the New York Islanders history, 14 players have worn the number two. The first to do so was Gerry Hart who was on the team from 1973-1979. Hart was steady on the blue line and deserves recognition as the first one to wear that number and wear it well.

He was a good Islander, but not the best to sport his number. Some other notables were Dean Chynoweth, Rich Pilon, and Nick Leddy. Leddy was likely my runner up for this number and it was a tough choice between him and our winner.

In a surprise trade with the Blackhawks, the Islanders landed Leddy who has been a part of the team since the 2014-2015 season. Leddy had three straight 40 point seasons for the Islanders before falling off a cliff in the second half of 2018 and never bouncing back to the guy that he originally was with the Isles.

Over six years with the team, Leddy 212 points in 462 games. The only number two better in Islanders history is former Captain, Mark Streit.

After the 2007-2008 season, the Islanders were able to land Streit coming off a 62 point season. Arguably Garth Snow’s best free-agent signing as this was a rare “big name guy” who a) came to the Islanders via free agency and b) produced.

Over four years with the Islanders, Streit had 179 points in 286 games. His first year, 2008-2009 he had a career-high 16 goals and 56 points to go along with it on an otherwise dreadful Islanders team. His season landed his eight in terms of Norris voting.

The following year, again Streit finished top-10 in Norris voting with 49 points (11 goals, 38 assists). Over his four years with the Isles Streit averaged 24:31 of ice time per game, he was logging heavy minutes for this team with a ton of defensive responsibilities and producing well.

Streit served as Captain for two seasons between 2011-2012 and his play yielded him one more big contract from the Philadelphia Flyers. Yes, Streit was on some bad teams but he was a rare bright spot for those late 00’s and early 10’s teams.