Who could lead the Islanders in goals in 2022-23?

The New York Islanders need to score more goals this next season. Simply put. Whether that is helped through offseason acquisitions or some improvements of current players on the roster, it must be done to get this team back into the playoffs.

Brock Nelson scored 37 goals for the Islanders in 2022-23, a career-high in what was a tremendous season for the center. Anders Lee finished second on the team with 28 goals and continued to lead by example as the season went on.

Other than that though, the rest of the Islanders roster had balanced scoring, granted it was pretty low. Jean-Gabriel Pageau finished third in team totals with 18 goals but behind him, most other forwards only finished with around 13-15. I think it's also notable that Noah Dobson had more goals than players who were expected to score more than they did, such as Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom, and was only one goal behind Josh Bailey.

Fans should have some optimism for this upcoming season when it comes to offense, however. With Lane Lambert taking over behind the bench and the strictly defensive-minded Trotz no longer running the offense, we may see some players break out that had a rough time scoring in what was a tough season to be an avid fan.

As many remember, the 2021-22 season could not have gotten off to a worse start. By the all-star break, the Islanders scored the third-fewest goals-per-game at 2.36, and Brock was the leader still with just 14. By that point, they also took 28.8 shots per game, the fourth-lowest in the league.

So which players currently on the roster could end up taking that next step? I'll omit Brock Nelson from this, considering that he finished 9 goals above the next best on the team last season, so he is assuredly the odds-on favorite to finish at the top again, and that's no fun.