Islanders Reflect on 2025-26 Season

Captain Anders Lee spoke for the whole team when he expressed his disappointment and frustration with the New York Islanders season ending early.

“We were in a really good spot,” Lee said. “That's a tough pill to swallow. Whether it was consistency or shooting ourselves in the foot, losing out on some points here and there. It's a tight league. We had kind of our worst stretch at the worst time.”

That stretch was a 4-10-0 run from March 19 onward, including a 1-7-0 record in the final eight games of the season, which took the Isles from a playoff position to missing by seven points. Lee spoke for the whole team, but nearly the whole team spoke on Wednesday, as they offered their assessments of how what was shaping up to be a playoff season fell apart down the stretch.

“It's a mixture of things. I don't think it's from a lack of effort,” Bo Horvat said. “Our scoring kind of ran dry a little bit, especially down the stretch when we needed it most.”

There was no singular reason for the downturn with different players offering different reasons, including the amount of chances allowed on Ilya Sorokin and David Rittich. According to MoneyPuck.com, the Islanders allowed the second-most high-danger shots at five-on-five this season, an area Head Coach Pete DeBoer and his defensive resume will address.

“We probably relied on [Ilya] Sorokin a little too much,” Tony DeAngleo said. “Too many chances we gave him and stuff. You can't expect a guy to just be the hero every night.”

The power play was another common theme after it finished 30^th in the NHL this season, converting at 16.5%. Brayden Schenn said he felt “the pieces are there” for the Isles to have success on the man advantage, but puck movement needs to improve. Horvat concurred, both on talent and puck movement, adding the Islanders played too much on the outside.

“We move it around the perimeter a little bit too much and try to look for that perfect play,” Horvat said.  “Sometimes it's just putting pucks and bodies towards the net, that kind of makes a difference, but again, that's a buy in, that's a mindset for us, and something that we need to work on.”

The Islanders will work in the offseason, harnessing Wednesday’s disappointment into motivation.

“We're pissed off in this room,” Mathew Barzal said about missing the playoffs. “We really feel it this year. So, if there's any positive it's that you can tell that we care in this room.”

Schenn, who recorded 11 points (6G, 5A) in 19 games since joining the team, offered veteran advice to the group.

“We all have to look at it ourselves in the mirror and come back and be prepared and be motivated and be hungry,” Schenn said.

While it offered little solace on Wednesday, there were positives from the 2025-26 season. Schaefer tied the NHL record for goals by a rookie defenseman with 23. Cal Ritchie established himself as a regular NHLer. Horvat scored 31 goals. Barzal hit 72 points. Emil Heineman surpassed 20 goals for the first time. The team went 10-0 in overtime. Sorokin led the league with seven shutouts. DeBoer got a head start on his Islanders preparation. There are building blocks. The tide is still rising.

“You try to look at the positives and I think there were a lot of them this year,” Barzal said. “Some emphatic wins at home. You saw our young guys play great hockey, and we still have the best goalie in the world.

Barzal added: “It's not easy to maybe say right now, but this feeling that we have with bunch of new guys, I think, hopefully, can turn into a positive leading into next year. Just knowing this feeling and how much it really sucks.”