New York Islanders 2023-24 Season Preview

A new, New York Islanders season kicks off on Saturday night, when the Isles host the Buffalo Sabres at UBS Arena at 7:30 p.m. and the Isles are ready to take on the challenge.

“It's a whole new season. It's a whole new opportunity,” captain Anders Lee said. “New challenges, new things to overcome, new adversity, the whole deal… It's a grind of 82 to get [into the playoffs], so let’s just worry about Saturday, put our focus there, go from there and continue to work at our game and get rolling at the right times."

While it’s a new season, there are plenty of familiar faces throughout the lineup, as the Islanders kept their blue line and crease intact from last season. There’s a lot of continuity up front as well, as captain Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck are getting ready for their 11^th full seasons with the team, while Mathew Barzal is suiting up for his seventh full campaign. Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas are entering their 12^th years with the club.

That continuity is valued by the veterans, but there were some significant departures for the Islanders in the offseason. Josh Bailey was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks, where he was subsequently bought out, and Zach Parise is still in Minnesota contemplating his NHL future. Ross Johnston was claimed off waivers by Anaheim on Tuesday.

Go back a year and the Islanders opening night roster in 2022 is markedly different from this year’s group, as GM Lou Lamoriello did most of his moving and shaking on the fly last year, acquiring Bo Horvat and Pierre Engvall, who are both feeling more settled after getting a full summer and training camp to acclimate to Long Island. 

“I like the look of it,” Barzal said of this year’s group. “Lou does a great job at finding pieces that we need throughout the year. Last year getting Engvall and Horvat and [Julien] Gauthier this offseason, he's provided some size and speed, so I like our roster right now.”

The Islanders started slow last season, but finished 19-9-4 down the stretch to qualify for the postseason. The hope is the roster that put together that stretch run can continue that momentum out of the gate in 2023-24. 

Ahead of Saturday’s opener, NewYorkIslanders.com takes a look at this year’s team.

FORWARDS

The Islanders have plenty of depth down the middle between Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, JG Pageau and Casey Cizikas. They have so much depth that Mathew Barzal, a natural center, is starting the season on the wing for the first time in his career. 

That’s fine by Barzal, who recognizes that Horvat is one of the game’s best and most prolific face-off takers. Horvat took the third most face-offs in the NHL last season (1,685) and his 56.9 FOW% ranked 11th among skates with 700 draws. Once the puck is dropped, the two have plenty of room to improvise and the chemistry they showed before Barzal’s injury last year seemed to return. 

Barzal led the Islanders with four points (2G, 2A) in four preseason games, while Horvat potted two points (1G, 1A) of his own. 

“We're both going to have the freedom to kind of just play instinctively,” Barzal said during camp. “He's obviously a beast in the circle, so he'll take a lot of face-offs. I’m sure if there's a situation where I'm in the middle and he's on the wall, we'll just roll with it. We're both smart enough to adjust on the fly. And we'll just go from there to kind of just let our instincts take over.”

Simon Holmstrom appears to be getting the first crack at playing alongside Barzal and Horvat, as the 22-year-old Swede gets set for his second NHL season. Holmstrom had three points (1G, 2A) in four preseason games. He had nine points (6G, 3A) in 50 games during his rookie season.

“He started well in rookie camp, and he just continued on,” Lambert said of Holmstrom. “He played quite a few games last year and we saw a lot of good things from him last year as well. He was really coming into his own when he suffered his injury and I think he's even taking a step further than that.”

The Pierre Engvall, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri trio, which was effective down the stretch, plans to pick up where they left off last season. Nelson has been especially good the past two years, leading the Islanders in goals and points in both seasons, including a career-high 75 points (36G, 39A) last year. Engvall blends the elements of size and speed and should be more settled after a full training camp. Palmieri missed the start of camp, but looked like his usual straight-line self in his lone preseason game.

Anders Lee, who had previously played alongside Barzal, spent training camp largely flanking Pageau as Lambert looked to develop chemistry between the two. It showed up in the Islanders 5-3 preseason win over the Rangers, with Pageau redirecting a cross-zone feed from Lee. Pageau primarily played with Zach Parise last season, so he was in need of a new linemate and gets another one who is comfortable playing in the paint.

“He's an easy player to play with,” Pageau said of Lee. “We all know about his one on one battles and how strong he is and how he's competing every day and how good of a leader he is… I thought we did good by learning our tendencies pretty quick and we have good chemistry.”

There are a few options to round out the line with Lee and Pageau, including Hudson Fasching and newcomer Julien Gauthier, who was signed over the summer. There's also Oliver Wahlstrom, who is healthy after suffering a season-ending knee injury in December. All three are in the mix and create internal competition amongst the group.

The Islanders Identity Line – Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck – round out the forward lines and will continue to do what they do best, forecheck, play physical and set the pace for the team. Clutterbuck is 18 games shy of 1,000 for his career.

DEFENSEMEN

There was no turnover on the Islanders blue line in the offseason, as Scott Mayfield inked a seven-year contract extension to keep the group intact. That meant the Islanders top five defensemen were set in stone at the start of training camp, with the only real competition being the final starting spot.

That battle for that final spot has whittled down to Sebastian Aho and Samuel Bolduc, who play different styles. Aho is a small and shifty puck-mover who can quarterback a power play, while Bolduc, the 2019 second-round pick, is a big body who can add some more physicality to the back end and in front of the net.

Aho has the edge in experience, with 132 NHL games compared to Bolduc’s 17, and set career-highs in goals (5), assists (18), points (23) and games played (71) last season, but Lambert said situations and opponents could help dictate who plays, given the close competition in camp.

“They've been in healthy competition, right from the start of training camp,” Lambert said. “There's no question that it's going to be sometimes a situational decision, and we'll see what happens from there, but both of them have played well.”

The Islanders know what they’re getting in established veterans like Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield. Pelech led the Islanders in TOI/GP last season with 21:39 and is the team’s top shutdown option. Pulock plays in all situations and raised his game in last year’s playoffs, while Mayfield was a top penalty killer and gives the Isles some edge, especially in the corners and in front of the net. Mayfield also had a career-high 24 points last season.

Noah Dobson has produced 100 points (26G, 74A) over the past two seasons, which leads all Isles d-men and the 23-year-old is looking to keep growing on the defensive side of the puck.

Alex Romanov led all Isles defensemen with 198 hits last season and looked revved up and ready to go in the preseason, especially after an offseason shoulder surgery. Lambert looks to be deploying an offensively-minded blueliner with a stay-at-home/shutdown partner, so expect to see balance – as well as lefty-righty combos – on the Isles back end this season.

GOALTENDING

The Islanders have committed to their goalie duo, as both Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov signed extensions over the summer.

Sorokin was already slated to return, but signed an eight-year extension that will begin in 2024-25. The Russian netminder said he preferred to get his deal done to not have any distractions during the year. 

“It’s a good extension for me and the team,” Sorokin said. “I like Long Island, I like the team I like the organization and I didn't want to change anything.”

It’ll be hard for the Vezina Trophy runner-up to improve on a stellar season in 2022-23 that saw him go 31-22-7 finish top four in GAA (2.34) and SV% (.924) and league the league with six shutouts. Sorokin’s 2.37 GAA, .925 SV% and league-leading 13 shutouts over the past two seasons place the Islanders goalie firmly in the upper echelon of the league.

Varlamov signed a four-year extension with the Islanders in the offseason, eschewing a chance to test out free agency. Varlamov is a steady veteran with the confidence of the team and a good relationship with Sorokin, as the elder Russian helped mentor Sorokin in his early years in North America.    

No matter who is in net, the Islanders will be in good hands this season.