Islanders Have High Expectations in 2021

Over three months since the New York Islanders run to the Eastern Conference Final, Head Coach Barry Trotz still isn't fully over losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That's not to say Trotz is dwelling on a play here, or a play there and he's not the type for what could have been. The Islanders' coach is using it as motivation as the team looks to build off of last season's deep playoff run.

"I have not gotten over the loss to the Lightning," Trotz said during the team's media day on Sunday. "I don't think you get over those things very easily. If you do, that's a problem. You park it, but trust me, you don't lose it. On my deathbed, that'll be one of the visions that goes through my head."
Colorful analogy aside, Trotz is a pragmatist and has spent the intervening time extracting what he needs from the playoff experience to get his team to the next level. The competitive fires burn hot in the coach, as they do for the team and as the Islanders have reconvened on Long Island, they're looking at last year's trip to the conference finals as a checkpoint, not the high-water mark.
"We can be proud of what we accomplished, but we can't be satisfied" JG Pageau said.

That's music to Trotz's ears and a reflection of the raised expectations for the Islanders heading into this season. They've taken steps forward in each of the past two years under Trotz and the focus for this season is to take another step forward, building off of last year.
"One of the things we've tried to do since we got here is raise the expectations from year one to year two," Trotz said. "Our expectations are hopefully to take the next step, that's our goal. What [the playoffs] does is confirm is that we have a good program, a good group and I think we have a very committed group. It confirms that when we play the way we need to play and the way this group has the most success, we can be very successful in the league, but we didn't win the Cup so we're not happy."
While the looking back officially ends when the team hits the ice for their first practice on Monday at Northwell Health Ice Center, there are positives to be taken out of the run to the conference finals. For a majority of the team - and all of the homegrown Islanders - last year provided a glimpse into the rigors of playing into the third round, and a de facto fourth if you count the preliminary series vs Florida. If the Islanders get back into deep water again this season, it won't be a new experience.

"It's tough mentally, it's tough physically, but it's what we play for and the deeper you go, the more you realize it," Anthony Beauvillier said. "It wasn't easy to see [Tampa] raise the Cup and you obviously want to be in that situation and that's the motivation for our team this year."
There's also the team's adaptability and resilience. It's unlikely that any experience will be like last year's playoff bubble, but staying positive and flexible through adversity, as well as ramping up quickly are two big takeaways from the bubble experience.
"It prepared us for going through a year where things are different," captain Anders Lee said. "With all of these protocols, testing and rules, things are going to come up where we'll have to adapt and be ready to make changes on the fly. That prepares us and puts us in a good position. The bubble was so unique in one sense, starting up after three or four months, now with a three-month break basically coming back it feels like a bit of a continuation of sorts. I hope we can continue where we left off."

The Islanders are largely returning the same team from last year's run, so Trotz said there won't be much of a learning curve in a shortened training camp and this group knows how it needs to play to have success. While Derick Brassard, Devon Toews, Johnny Boychuk and Thomas Greiss have all moved on, their replacements are all seemingly coming from within the organization and are acquainted with Trotz's systems and the team's culture. And the expectations, of course.
"The last couple of years have just been a good build in confidence and realizing what we're capable of," Cal Clutterbuck said. "It's just kind of ignited this desire and this burn and a sense of urgency with the guys. We feel very confident in our ability to be successful and the ultimate goal is to win the Cup. We all feel like we have a team that's capable of doing that. There's a lot of excitement and work ahead."