TheHockeyNews.com's current series ranking the off-seasons of every NHL team continues with Team No. 23 – the New York Islanders. The Islanders suffered one major departure this summer, and they've made few additions. Did the Isles do enough to get back into the playoff mix in 2026-27?
The New York Islanders haven’t been one of the NHL’s worst teams in recent years, but that’s damning with faint praise.
There’s reasons for positivity on Long Island, but there’s also significant question marks about their roster, and their hopes of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this upcoming season.
The Islanders have failed to make the post-season in three of the past five years, and they haven’t gotten out of the first round since 2021. Despite improving by eight more wins, they finished sixth in the weak Metropolitan Division for a second consecutive season.
Let's explore the Islanders' off-season and discuss why they ended up at this position in TheHockeyNews.com's rankings.
Arrivals:
Matias Maccelli (LW), Mitchell Chaffee (RW), Vitek Vanecek (G)
When the highlight of your off-season additions is Matias Maccelli, who produced 14 goals and 39 points in 71 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, it's safe to say it wasn't a great summer.
Maccelli is two years removed from career-highs in goals (17) and points (57) and he was given every opportunity to succeed in a top-six role with the Maple Leafs. However, the fact they were willing to let him walk in free agency is telling. Maccelli was occasionally a healthy-scratch on a Maple Leafs team that desperately wanted him to succeed, and imagining he’ll set new career-best numbers on Long Island is rather optimistic.
The other additions GM Mathieu Darche made were Mitchell Chaffee, a depth winger who played mainly in the AHL last season, and a third goaltending option in Vanecek, who ostensibly is replacing veteran David Rittich. This isn’t what you’d expect to see from a team serious about a deep playoff run.
Any way you cut it, the Islanders’ additions are thoroughly underwhelming. They finished 25th in goals-for this past season and there’s no obvious improvement in that department.
The Islanders didn’t have a ton of salary cap space to spend this off-season, but they haven’t made additions that suggest they've improved, and now have only $2.9-million in cap space to use during the season.
Departures:
Anders Lee (LW), Maxim Shabanov (RW), David Rittich (G), Marc Gatcomb (C), Carson Soucy (D), Adam Boqvist (D)
The biggest loss this summer by far for the Islanders is the departure of former captain Anders Lee, who left for the Mammoth on a three-year contract extension worth $5.4-million per season. While he’s no longer the elite power forward he was four or five years ago, he's still coming off a productive season with 19 goals and 42 points.
On top of losing his offensive ability, the optics of allowing your captain for the past eight seasons to leave in free agency aren't great. Lee was an important player for that franchise, and if Darche knew he would let Lee leave this summer, he should’ve facilitated a move at the trade deadline.
David Rittich’s departure also hurts, given he produced an .894 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average in 30 appearances for the Isles last season. Not to mention the hits they took to their defensive depth by losing Carson Soucy and Adam Boqvist.
But Lee is obviously the biggest name-brand departure for the Islanders this summer. If they didn’t want to contractually commit to him for a third year and that was what made him leave for Utah, that’s fine. However, unless there’s significant internal development, there’s more talent leaving Long Island than coming to it.
The Bottom Line:
Darche has been trying to steer the Islanders into the playoffs while simultaneously building a base of assets for the future.
One of his biggest moves as GM was the late-season firing of head coach Patrick Roy, with veteran bench boss Peter DeBoer installed as his replacement. DeBoer had just four games to try and get them into the playoffs, and failed to push the Islanders beyond the mushy middle, which is where they've lived in previous seasons.
In four of the past five seasons, the Islanders finished between fourth and sixth in the Metropolitan Division. While they were fortunate to land star defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first-overall pick in 2025, the Isles need much more talent to take that next competitive step.
This Islanders team wasn’t good enough to be a playoff team last season, and their off-season changes indicate they’re going to have great difficulty getting into the playoffs in 2026-27.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
