Islanders: 3 Forgotten Players Of The 2010s

The decade of the 2010s is mostly remembered for John Tavares and Mathew Barzal but here are three players who tend to get forgotten.

From 2010-2019, the Islanders made the playoffs four times. Twice they made it out of the first round, something that took the franchise 23 years to do, and the decade was dominated by the likes of John Tavares and Mathew Barzal.

The names of the core we remember and remember fondly. But what about the guys who had a solid Impact in a short amount of time?

Today, we’re going to look at Islanders who have been forgotten about when looking back at the 2010s teams:

Brad Boyes

Garth Snow found Brad Boyes on the scrapheap before the 2012-2013 season. He was coming off a four-year deal that saw him earn $4 million a year on average. But after a 23 point season in Buffalo, he didn’t garner much interest.

Snow scooped up him on a one-year $1 million contract and got a ton of value out of him. In the 48 game lockout-shortened season, Boyes was stellar putting up 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) a pace of 60 points over a full season.

He was playing next to Matt Moulson and John Tavares that season, rounding out a solid top line for them. He spent just one year on the Island, but well overachieved in his lone season in blue and orange.

Lubomir Visnovsky

A sneaky good trade from Garth Snow, who sent a second-round pick to Anaheim for the veteran defenseman. His first year with the Islanders was 2012-2013, like Boyes, and he played some big minutes for that team.

He averaged 22:48 a night and had 14 points along the way. His play even got him some Norris Trophy votes, at age 36. Garth signed him to a two-year extension after the season. He played in just 24 games in 2013-2014 but bounced back nicely the following year.

In three years with the team, he had 45 points in 112 games, averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time per game. Unfortunately, Lubomir Visnovsky’s career was essentially ended by Tom Wilson on this dirty play in the 2015 playoffs.

Andrew MacDonald

In the sixth round of the 2006 draft, the Islanders found Andrew MacDonald. For six seasons with the Islanders, he provided some pretty solid value, especially for where he was taken. Between 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, MacDonald played 49 games before receiving a more regular role the following year.

Over the next four years, MacDonald would play some serious minutes for the Isles on the blue line. He averaged over 23 minutes a season and before he was traded to Philadelphia was averaging 25:25 for the Islanders.

The 2010s are more remembered for Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, and Travis Hamonic on the blue line but MacDonald deserves some recognition as well.

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!