Matthew Schaefer’s historic rookie campaign set a new standard on Long Island. Now, savvy managers must decide if Bo Horvat and deep-roster sleepers can spark a playoff return.
Puck drop is nearly here, and with training camps opening across the league, it's officially fantasy draft season. It's been a busy offseason, full of blockbuster trades, big-name signings and roster overhauls that are only just starting to settle.
We're going team by team to help you prepare, flagging a sleeper worth stashing, a breakout candidate ready to take off, and a bust that might not be worth the price you'll pay to draft him. Next up: the New York Islanders.
New York finished last season 43-34-5 for 91 points, sixth in the Metropolitan Division, narrowly missing the playoffs in a tight conference race. The season's biggest story wasn't the standings, though, it was rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
The first overall pick in the 2025 draft played all 82 games, tied Brian Leetch's rookie record for goals by a defenseman with 23, finished second on the team with 59 points, and led the Islanders in average ice time. He capped it off by winning the Calder Trophy unanimously, becoming just the second player since Teemu Selänne to do so.
With a genuine building block already in place on the back end, New York heads into the season hoping the pieces around Schaefer can push the team back into the playoff picture.
Sleepers: Calum Ritchie & Kyle Palmieri
While Matthew Schaefer dominated the headlines with his spectacular rookie season, Ritchie quietly had a solid year of his own, recording 30 points in 65 games, and he'll be stepping into a bigger role this upcoming season.
The former 27th-overall pick back in 2023 is expected to move up to the second line, where he'll skate alongside his best linemates yet in Mathew Barzal and Brayden Schenn. The trio played together for 97 minutes across just 11 games last season and looked fairly solid offensively, scoring five goals as a unit, though they struggled defensively, allowing six goals against.
If the Islanders can shore up that side of the puck, this could develop into a genuinely strong second line, and it could help push Ritchie beyond his near-40-point pace from last season into the 50-to-60-point range.
On the top line, Palmieri enters a crucial season of his own as he heads into a contract year, looking to build off an impressive start to last season, when he was on pace for 60 points before things slowed down. That kind of production is realistic for the 35-year-old, who has hit that pace before when healthy, and durability has largely been on his side, having played all 82 games in two of the last three seasons.
With Bo Horvat as his linemate, the two have already developed real chemistry and will look to keep building on it. Ritchie and Palmieri are both rostered in just three percent of Yahoo leagues, and both present intriguing upside for the price.
Breakout: Bo Horvat
Going off the board around the 128th pick on average, Horvat looks like one of the better values in this year's draft. Before going down with injury last season, he matched his prior season's point total, finishing with 57 points in just 68 games, a pace that would've had him surpassing 70 points over a full slate.
Outlets are now projecting him to simply reach 60 points this season, a modest bar given where he was trending. Playing with a hungry, motivated Palmieri should only help, and Horvat will be looking to prove he's still a legitimate top-line center. A return to something closer to his 68-point production from his first full season with the Islanders in 2023-24 is well within reach if he can stay on the ice.
Bust: N/A
There simply aren't many Islanders being drafted with any regularity this season, leaving little room for a compelling bust on this roster. Beyond Horvat, the only names going off the board consistently are Matthew Schaefer, Mathew Barzal and Ilya Sorokin, and all three appear fairly priced given what they bring.
Schaefer's draft cost reflects a genuine top-pairing defenseman, Barzal continues to go at a discount for his playmaking ability, and Sorokin remains a solid bet in net. With no players being overdrafted and the rest of the roster largely ignored in most leagues, there's no name here worth actively avoiding.
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