Islanders 2021 Predictions vs 2021 Reality

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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – JUNE 23: The New York Islanders celebrate after their 3-2 overtime victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Semifinals during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Coliseum on June 23, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The 2021 season, while it didn’t yield the result Islanders fans wanted, was a fun one. There were a lot of positives to take out of it from how far the team went and how individuals did, especially the goalies.

Before every season, I like to give my predictions for the season and try to project what particular players will do. Before the season, I looked at 22 players, and now looking back some of my predictions were close while others were way off.

Let’s take a look at how I did:

Forwards

Anders Lee Prediction: 37 points (22 goals, 15 assists)

Anders Lee Actual: 19 points (12 goals, 7 assists) – *only played 27 games*

Brock Nelson Prediction: 49 points (22 goals, 26 assists)

Brock Nelson Actual: 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists)

Jordan Eberle Prediction: 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists)

Jordan Eberle Actual: 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists)

Josh Bailey Prediction: 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists)

Josh Bailey Actual: 35 points (8 goals, 27 assists)

JG Pageau Prediction: 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists)

JG Pageau Actual: 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists)

Cal Clutterbuck Prediction: 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists)

Cal Clutterbuck Actual: 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists)

Casey Cizikas Prediction: 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists)

Casey Cizikas Actual: 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists)

Leo Komarov Prediction: 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) – 20 games

Leo Komarov Actual: 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) – 33 games

Anthony Beauvillier Prediction: 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists)

Anthony Beauvillier Actual: 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists)

Ross Johnston Prediction: 2 points (2 goals, 1 assist) – 12 games

Ross Johnston Actual: 1 point (0 goals, 1 assist) – 12 games

Michael Dal Colle Prediction: 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) – 10 games

Michael Dal Colle Actual: 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) – 26 games

Mathew Barzal Prediction: 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists)

Mathew Barzal Actual: 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists)

Oliver Wahlstrom Prediction: 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists) – 40 games

Oliver Wahlstrom Actual: 21 points (12 goals, 9 assists) – 44 games

Matt Martin Prediction: 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists)

Matt Martin Actual: 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists)

Like I said, some were fairly close while others were way off. I was a tad too bullish on Mat Barzal predicting him to be a point per game player. Actually, most of my predictions for the top-six came in a little too high.

JG Pageau, Ross Johnston, and Oliver Wahlstrom were probably my closest forward predictions. Just one point and four games off on the Wahlstrom prediction. The Islanders also favored Michael Dal Colle and Leo Komarov more than I did (shocker).

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – SEPTEMBER 15: Ryan Pulock #6 of the New York Islanders is congratulated by Nick Leddy #2 after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on September 15, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Defense

Nick Leddy Prediction: 23 points (6 goals, 17 assists)

Nick Leddy Actual: 31 points (2 goals, 29 assists)

Ryan Pulock Prediction: 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists)

Ryan Pulock Actual: 17 points (2 goals, 15 assists)

Adam Pelech Prediction: 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists)

Adam Pelech Actual: 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists)

Scott Mayfield Prediction: 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists)

Scott Mayfield Actual: 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists)

Noah Dobson Prediction: 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists)

Noah Dobson Actual: 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists)

Andy Greene Prediction: 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists)

Andy Greene Actual: 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists)

I feel like with Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, and Noah Dobson I was on the right track. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock I was way off with. For Leddy, I was not expecting the offensive resurgence that we saw from him.

As for Pulock, the assist total was a fine guess, I just wasn’t anticipating the cold streak shooting. This year looks like such an outlier for him, I’m not going to worry about that going forward.

Goalies

Semyon Varlamov Prediction: 35 starts – .918 sv% 2.51 GAA

Semyon Varlamov Actual: 35 starts – .929 sv% 2.04 GAA

Ilya Sorokin Prediction: 21 starts – .921 sv% 2.47 GAA

Ilya Sorokin Actual: 21 starts – .918 sv% 2.17 GAA

I don’t care that my numbers were off, how about hitting the starting split perfectly! I’m going to hang my hat on that one. Both goalies overachieved my expectations, and I’m sorry for doubting Mitch Korn, even though my predictions would still be considered good seasons from a starting goalie.

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – SEPTEMBER 15: Ryan Pulock #6 of the New York Islanders is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on September 15, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Standings

My Prediction: 33-18-5 (71 points) – 1st Place

Actual Standings: 32-17-7 (71 points) – 4th Place

My God! I hit the points exactly on the nose. Sure, I was off by three places but I will absolutely count getting the number of points right. I had:

1. Islanders 33-18-5 (71 points)

2. Washington 31-18-7 (69 points)

3. Boston 29-19-8 (66 points)

4. Philadelphia 29-20-7 (65 points)

5. Rangers 28-22-6 (62 points)

6. Pittsburgh 26-22-8 (60 points)

7. Buffalo 25-26-5 (55 points)

8. New Jersey 19-25-12 (50 points)

The East was actually:

1 Pittsburgh 37-16-3 (77 points)

2 Washington 36-15-5 (77 points)

3 Boston 33-16-7 (73 points)

4 Islanders 32-17-7 (71 points)

5 Rangers 27-23-6 (60 points)

6 Philadelphia 25-23-8 (58 points)

7 New Jersey 19-30-7 (45 points)

8 Buffalo 15-34-7 (37 points)

Playoff Predictions

Again, I was fairly close here too. I had the Islanders losing in the Semi-Final although it was to the Vegas Golden Knights. My semi-final was Islanders vs Vegas and Carolina vs Vancouver (yikes) with Carolina and Vegas in the Final.

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I’m not perfect, there were definitely some blunders but overall, I think I did a fairly okay job with my predictions. Okay, you can roast me in the comments now.

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Defense

Goalies

Standings

Playoff Predictions

Schedule