It’s tough to know how optimistic to be about the New York Islanders these days.
For the first time in recent memory, they’re battling for a playoff spot and can certainly hold their own with the other underwhelming Eastern teams scrapping it out for seeds five through eight.
Rick DiPietro is back and has fared pretty well in four games, Kyle Okposo, still just 21, is starting to produce more and Matt Moulson has been a nice surprise, leading the team with 19 goals.
On the flip side, rookie John Tavares has two goals in his past 21 games and getting excited about anything related to DiPietro comes with well-documented perils.
The Isles have done a good job building organizational depth via the draft and, recent slide aside, Tavares certainly has the makings of a worthy centrepiece. Still, this team needs another blue-chipper on the roster before we can get really excited about the future.
For now, the Isles will try to take a collective step forward by earning a post-season berth in April. If nothing else, it would offer good experience and some positive re-enforcement for the kids already in-house.
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.