How the NY Islanders Can Re-Open Their Winning Window

During Game 5, when the Carolina Hurricanes scored two goals in less than ten seconds for the second time in the series, it felt like an inflection point for the NY Islanders. For as long as they have tried to make it work with this group of players, it now feels like this group has gone as far as it can go.

Throughout this season, there were many times when it appeared the Islanders had become a country club. Accountability was nowhere to be found, and it looked like a classic case of a group of players simply being together too long. Lou Lamoriello decided that instead of making a big player move, he would try one more time with this core by firing Lane Lambert and replacing him with Patrick Roy.

The Isles did respond positively to the move, going 20-12-5 under Roy. They also showed the attributes late in the season that have made them successful in recent years. This team is relentless and never gave up, and those characteristics led them back to the postseason. Unfortunately, for a second straight season, the Isles were really no match for Carolina, and the postseason ended much too quickly.

While the big-picture view of the last six years is very positive for the organization, it gets murkier when you consider the last three years. These seasons ended the following ways: missed the postseason; backed into the postseason on a crazy Pittsburgh loss to Chicago and then lost in Round 1; made the playoffs in the weakest Wild Card race in memory and were a nonfactor in Round 1.

This cannot be the goal of this organization. Three years is enough time to know change is needed. The Islanders are now the sixth-oldest team in the NHL by average age. The Islanders are capped out. Additionally, they have arguably the worst farm system in the NHL, and they are not exactly Stanley Cup contenders as it stands today. That's probably the worst combination of those four things. Teams that are close to a cup should be older and capped out, and maybe have weak farm systems from a few years of trade deadline moves. Likewise, rebuilding teams should be young with stronger farm systems.

But the Islanders are currently the worst of all worlds. So this offseason needs to be about choosing a lane and sticking in that lane. Fortunately, I believe the Islanders have a core worthy of building around. But with the amount of long-term contracts on the books, meaningful change will be difficult, and the Isles will have to think outside the box.