NY Islanders captain Anders Lee is proving the naysayers wrong so far this season

New York Islanders captain Anders Lee has been said to be too old, too slow, and paid too much. That's been the refrain from a segment (sometimes large) of Islanders fans for 3-4 seasons. Those detractors have been mostly quiet so far this season, and for good reason, as the 34-year-old has been one of the team's most consistent and productive forwards.

Lee scored twice in the third period on Tuesday night to earn the Islanders a point as they started their five-game road trip by stealing a point in Edmonton against Connor McDavid and the Oilers. The two goals gave Lee six through 16 games after scoring only two through 16 last season. He didn't score his sixth goal until his 26th game last year, but he still finished with 20 goals, something he's done seven of the last eight seasons, with the only exception being when he tore his ACL after scoring 12 goals in the first 27 games during the shortened 2021 season.

Despite that consistency, Lee did something this off-season that some, but not all, veteran players would be willing to do: try something different. Ethan Sears of the New York Post wrote about how Lee sought the help of NHL Hall-of-Famer Adam Oates, who has worked with Bo Horvat, among others, to refine old skills and deploy new ones.

“Worked on a lot of little things that I think paid some big dividends,” Lee said. “Just came in feeling really good. Body’s in a great spot. Felt really good on the ice and just tried to continue that through. Like everyone else, try to go into each summer believing that you can come out of it a better hockey player. Went in with a great mindset and did a lot of great stuff.”

Lee currently leads the team in expected goals per MoneyPuck, a stat that he usually is high in because of the proximity of his chances. How often the goals come sometimes has to do with luck, but not always, and so far, Lee is converting on his chances at a slightly better clip than he did last season. He has the same amount of goals as Brock Nelson and is third on the team in points with 11 behind only Horvat (12) and Kyle Palmieri (14).

For years, it felt that Lee's stats were being propped up by playing on the Islanders' top line with Mathew Barzal. That hasn't been the case this season, yet his numbers have improved. With one full season remaining on his seven-year, $49M contract he signed in 2019, Lee has quieted some concerns that he could no longer be a top-9 contributor and has shown he's still capable of doing at least that, and perhaps better.