Islanders: three positives through the early season

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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – JUNE 19: The New York Islanders celebrate their 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning after Game Four of the Stanley Cup Semifinals during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Coliseum on June 19, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images) /

This season hasn’t gone very well for the New York Islanders through two games. But not everything has been terrible, some good has happened.

The start to the 2021-22 season has not gone well. Like at all. Sure, it’s only two games in but the results have been horrendous. Two losses by a combined score of 11-4 is not how the New York Islanders typically play hockey games.

They’re a tough defensive team that gives up very few chances. The Isles don’t score many themselves but with their style of play that rarely matters. Of course, that’s when the system works.

When the system doesn’t work, things can go very very wrong. As we’ve seen of late. Things aren’t going well because the players haven’t played the system well. It’s a delicate relationship, between the system and the players, and right now that relationship is broken.

But, that doesn’t mean everything is broken, or that everything is going poorly. There are still some things that are going well.

I know some might want to dwell on the negative right now, but there are some positives to consider as the Isles look to turn things around over the next 80 games of the regular season.

So here are the three positives through the early portion of the season.

Kyle Palmieri

Kyle Palmieri was brought in or should I say retained, to cement the top line with Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal. Together the trio is supposed to, at the very least, pick up where the Islanders top-line left off last year (when Lee was healthy).

Ideally, the three are even better than Lee-Barzal-Eberle. Ideally, they power the team to even better results than in 2020-21. Obviously, they haven’t been able to get wins just yet, but Palmieri has shown he was a worthy investment.

Through two games Palmieri has two points, five shots on net, 61.54 HDCF%, and 57.64 xGF%. Those are some early signs that things are working between the three. Which is exactly what a number of fans (myself included) felt would occur.`

I’ve already looked at how Palmieri will have a big year for the Islanders and I also looked at how Palmieri will be a good fit for this line. And by that I mean a good fit to play with Barzal and Lee.

That’s a great sign for the New York Islanders. There was worry that losing Jordan Eberle and replacing him with a player who was a third-line option last season (on purpose mind you) might not work too well.

The early results indicate that Palmieri’s impact is working well on this line.

Obviously losing Eberlefor free to the Seattle Kraken was less than ideal, but the Islanders clearly have someone who can not only fill that void and perhaps even be a more positive asset. And they’re paying him $500,000 less a year to do so.

Adam Pelech

The Islanders defensive structure has been horrendous. Just about every defenseman has been terrible. They’ve either failed to clear the front of the net, have no concept of gap control, or generally don’t really knowing where to be or go.

It’s been an absolute failure from top to bottom for the Islanders blueline. Except for one player; Adam Pelech.

The Isles rear-guard has been the one and only steady hand on an otherwise shaky defensive core. Which isn’t necessarily surprising. Pelech has been an elite shutdown defenseman for a few years now. It’s why he was given such a huge upgrade on the $1.6 million deal that just expired at the end of 2020-21.

But one player can’t cover up the problems faced by an entire team. If everyone else is running around making mistakes, Pelech alone isn’t going to make it all better. It’s just not how things work.

The Islanders are only as good as the sum of their parts. And the sum isn’t good. Save for Pelech of course.

Sure, he hasn’t helped create a goal or even been on the ice to create a goal but he hasn’t been on the ice when a goal has been scored against the Isles, which hasn’t been the case for any other defenseman on the team:

5on5 Goals against per Isles defenseman:
- Pulock: 2
- Dobson: 3
- Mayfield: 4
- Greene: 4
- Chara: 5
- Pelech: 0

(Stats from NaturalStatTrick)

Again, Adam Pelech is the lone strength out there for the Islanders. It seems he’s the only one who knows what he’s doing out there. He should be in the ear of every Islanders defenseman.

For now, Pelech is the lone positive on the back end for the New York Islanders. As much as things change some things remain the same.

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT – OCTOBER 02: (L-R) Zach Parise #11 and Jean-Gabriel Pageau #44 of the New York Islanders look up at the scoreboard during the first period against the New Jersey Devils during a preseason game at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on October 02, 2021 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Third line

The third line has gone through a minor change in the offseason. Veteran winger Zach Parise was brought in after being bought out by the Minnesota Wild. The veteran winger is, at least on paper, a big upgrade for Leo Komarov.

Komarov’s grittiness is certainly better than Parise’s but, the latter’s production is much better than Komarov’s. In a down year, Parise put up 18 points in 45 games. Komarov has put up 22 points since 2019-20.

With Parise here, the Islanders third line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom should be better at driving play forward. That’s exactly what’s happening early in the season.

The three players are in the top five in terms of expected goals-for:

Jean-Gabriel Pageau: 66.55 (1st)
Zach Parise: 58.89 (2nd)
Oliver Wahlstrom: 52.51 (5th)

(ata from NaturalStatTrick.)

Keep in mind that they’re achieving these numbers while spending most of the time in the defensive zone. According to Hockey-Reference, the zone time is leaning quite heavily on the defensive side for the two veterans (70.8% and 62.2% for Pageau and Parise respectively).

That’s a great sign for the Islanders. The top line is already working well enough. We know the second line can be good (they haven’t yet). We also know very well that the fourth line can take over a game. With this third line clicking, the Islanders are unmatched in their depth.

Now. If only this team can figure out how to play defense all these positives should put them into the win column a number of times this season.

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