PITTSBURGH, PA -- A new era of New York Islanders hockey begins on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena when they battle the Pittsburgh Penguins (1-0-0) at 7 PM ET.
From winning the draft lottery, hiring Mathieu Darche as their new general manager, drafting Matthew Schaefer, trading Noah Dobson for Emil Heineman and two picks that became Victor Eklund (No. 16) and Kashawn Aitcheson (No. 19), before signing Jonathan Drouin, Maxim Shabanov and David Rittich in free agency, while also welcoming back a healtyh Mathew Barzal and Jonathan Drouin (take a breath), there's a brand new feeling when it come to this Islanders team.
"As a team, you want to start on the right foot," Drouin told The Hockey News. "Obviously, personally, you do as well. But every team that starts off well usually finds it a little easier to get through that season. You're not grinding back after a month. You're not chasing teams already. So yeah, tonight's a big game, and we're very excited.
"The vibes are very good. Barzy missed 50 games -- your top player -- that hurts a lot. There were other injuries, too, on the side. So to have a guy like Schaeer coming in to help us, even though he's 18, he's a hell of a player. Get Barzal healthy again, and new additions a little bit. You can definitely feel the excitement. The vibes are good."
Kyle Palmieri, who signed a two-year extension worth $4.75 million annually, is excited after all the changes.
"It's the whole culmination. You have the offseason, and then you have, like, that little bit of a spike for the first day of camp and getting back into game action," Palmieri told THN. "But it's the regular season. We're doing it for real now. And, yeah, no, it's nothing but excitement. I don't think there's really any nerves. We had a good camp here. Guys are excited. We're having fun. We're just ready to drop the puck on the season.
The fan base's hype resonates with the players.
"Even the event at UBS that day, you can just sense that it's kind of a breath of fresh air," Palmieri added. "There's a little bit of a spark inside this room, and now, as a group, we're excited. We got some new faces and some guys who are going to come in and make an impact on our team. And we're excited to see how we how we do to start."
Islanders captain Anders Lee is ready to rock and roll.
"It doesn't matter how many times you've done it before there, you still get the jitters and the butterflies are there and nerves and all that. It's an exciting time," Lee told THN. "I love it. I love the challenge that it's coming up for us as a team, and great road test to start things off. But to have another year starting up here, it's great time."
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy has one message for his team.
"Enjoy yourself," Roy said. "That's what we talk about, joy from the start of the training camp, and we're going to continue to do this and enjoy tonight.