Longtime beat reporter says NY Islanders needed bigger shakeup this offseason

The New York Islanders didn’t have the easiest offseason to navigate.

The free-agent market was thin, the trade market was expensive and general manager Mathieu Darche inherited a roster with plenty of commitments already in place. Longtime Islanders beat reporter, and co-host of the Tri-State Hockey and Hockey Night in NY podcasts Arthur Staple understands all of that.

He still thinks the Islanders should have done more.

In a recent post on X, Staple questioned the decision to largely bring back a team that struggled badly beneath the surface last season.

“I completely understand that the FA class was a dud,” Staple wrote. “I get that assets were already committed so the trade market wasn't competitive for GM Mathieu Darche. But still, a team that had dreadful underlyings running it back seems like a miss to me.”

Staple pointed to possible buyouts and scoring forwards who could have been acquired by trade, arguing the Islanders needed “at least a mild facelift.”

Instead, much of the hope for improvement rests with new head coach Peter DeBoer.

There is reason for optimism there. DeBoer has developed a reputation for quickly improving teams in his first season, and the Islanders desperately need that type of immediate impact.

One of his biggest challenges will be making life easier on Ilya Sorokin.

Staple noted that 39 goaltenders faced more than 799 scoring chances last season, and Sorokin’s expected save percentage of .880 ranked 36th among them. The Islanders gave up too many quality opportunities, while Sorokin again carried a heavy workload.

That makes the backup situation another major question.

The Islanders appear likely to rely on some combination of Semyon Varlamov and Vitek Vanecek to handle 25 to 30 starts. Staple expressed hope that Varlamov can rebound after two injury-plagued seasons, but acknowledged that asking him to shoulder a significant workload after two knee replacements is no small thing.

Then there are the kids.

Victor Eklund, Isaiah George and Cole Eiserman could all push for opportunities, although a roster filled with one-way contracts may make early openings difficult to find.

If the Islanders are again hovering around the playoff line, however, patience could wear thin quickly.

DeBoer gives them hope. But after two straight seasons without the playoffs, simply running things back leaves plenty that still needs to go right.

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