Eyes On Isles
Fansided

Islanders 5 bold predictions for 2021-22 season

By Michel Anderson

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 16: Oliver Wahlstrom #26 celebrates with Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New York Islanders after Palmieri's goal in the first period in Game One of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on May 16, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 16: Oliver Wahlstrom #26 celebrates with Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New York Islanders after Palmieri's goal in the first period in Game One of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on May 16, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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New York Islanders
Apr 19, 2018; Columbus, OH, USA; A view of an official game puck with the Stanley Cup logo prior to the Washington Capitals against the Columbus Blue Jackets in game four of the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Islanders win the Stanley Cup

Right now the Islanders are 20/1 to win the Stanley Cup according to WynnBET. Seven teams have better odds than the Islanders do. Predicting them to win the Cup shouldn’t be a bold prediction, but apparently, it is.

I just wrote in the previous slide about how the Islanders made very few changes to their team and are even marginally better than they were (on paper) last season. And last season, they took the Stanley Cup champion to seven games. Not to mention how they took the 2019 Cup champs to six games in the ECF.

And look, they got deeper than they were in 2020-21, and they were already a deep team. It’s why they were still able to compete with the best team while their captain and main goal threat was sidelined for most of the year.

When you think about the playoffs and what it takes to make a deep run, three things come to mind:

  1. Having a deep team: Four lines that can contribute
  2. Defense, defense, defense
  3. Strong goaltending

The Isles have all three of those.

They’ve successfully played a four-line system since Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello arrived. They have the best regular-season defensive record in the league since 2018-19. The duo of Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin was first in the NHL with a 0.921SV% last season.

The Isles have everything they need to win a cup. I think they could very well do it this season.

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