Islanders have a reason to believe they can prove critics wrong

There are plenty of non-believers in the New York Islanders out there. I have to admit, I am biased against all of them.

I can’t help but look at the Isles with a sense of irrational exuberance that’s becoming of a die-hard.

That’s why The Athletic’s latest assessment of the Islanders is blah, at best.

In a recent piece, the publication considers the Islanders a main regression candidate this season. Considering that the Isles narrowly missed the playoffs last season, a regression would mean falling off the side of a cliff.

But when looking at the reasoning behind the bearish assessment, the fact is that the publication does not know the Islanders.

“Anders Lee was more than a netfront force for New York; he was their captain, leading the team to the Eastern Conference final and seeing it through the lean years that followed. The Islanders added Matias Maccelli and hired Peter DeBoer, but were already a bottom-10 offensive team and didn’t make up for Lee’s loss.”

So, the opinion is right to a certain extent about the impact of Anders Lee’s departure. The loss of the former captain’s leadership cannot be denied. But the naming of Bo Horvat as his successor should more than fill that gap.

And as for Lee’s offensive production, well, as much as we like the guy, he’s been in a decline for a while now. He had back-to-back 28-goal seasons before dropping to 20, then rebounding to 29, and then dipping again to 19. That was Lee’s lowest goal total in a full season since 2015-16.

And Maccelli, as long as he produces similar numbers to the ones he did in Toronto last season, should make up for Lee’s production. The 25-year-old scored 14 goals in 71 games for the Maple Leafs, while playing about 13 minutes a night. Getting a fair shake should allow the Finnish winger to potentially reach the numbers he once put up in Arizona, scoring 17 goals in 82 games.

But there’s an even better reason why the Islanders will prove everyone wrong.

Peter DeBoer is the real difference-maker for Islanders

The real wild card here is Peter DeBoer. It’s completely unfair to judge his performance last season based on, like, five games. And even in that minuscule sample size, the Islanders turned their game around.

This season, the defensive specialist that he is, DeBoer’s system should force the club into playing a much more defensively responsible approach.

That’s all the team needs to do to give Ilya Sorokin a chance to win every game. As long as Sorokin doesn’t face 50 shots a night, he should do well and keep the Isles in the game.

Add to that another full season of Matthew Schaefer and Calum Ritchie, plus the potential emergence of Victor Eklund, and the return of Kyle Palmieri and Alexander Romanov, and suddenly, the Islanders look like a solid team.

No, it won’t be easy to lock down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But if there’s a team that can make critics eat their hats, it’s the New York Islanders.

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