3 questions facing New York Islanders

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the New York Islanders.

1. Will Matthew Schaefer play in the NHL this season?

The defenseman and No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft made it clear his goal is to play for the Islanders when they open their season Oct. 9 at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Schaefer turns 18 on Sept. 5. He dazzled on the ice and handled the attention with aplomb at development camp in July. Next is NHL competition in the preseason and growing into his 6-foot-2, 183-pound frame.

Logic may dictate a third season with Erie in the Ontario Hockey League, but a top four of Schaefer, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Alexander Romanov would strengthen a defense corps that last season lost Romanov, Pelech, Scott Mayfield and Mike Reilly for a combined 120 games to injuries.

“We have every intention to see him at camp, see him play a lot of preseason games and hopefully he's in our lineup when the season starts," Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said. "The play at training camp will dictate what happens, but he certainly has the capabilities to do it."

2. Can they inject life into special teams?

The Islanders power play ranked 31st (12.6 percent) last season, down from 19th (20.4 percent) in 2023-24. The penalty kill was also 31st (72.2 percent), and last (71.5 percent) the season before, so assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner were hired and replace John MacLean and Tommy Albelin, respectively, to run the man-advantage and PK.

The San Jose Sharks were a combined 84.0 percent on the kill, second in the NHL, when Boughner was their coach from 2019-22. Jonathan Drouin, signed to a two-year contract July 1, had 12 power-play points in 43 games for the Colorado Avalanche last season, which would have tied since-traded defenseman Noah Dobson for the team lead. Three skaters have had at least 26 with the Islanders since the start of 2015-16: Josh Bailey (31), John Tavares (30) and Mathew Barzal (27) in 2017-18.

"We could use a guy like (Drouin)," captain Anders Lee said. "With our new assistant coaches, getting on the same page with them having a plan, and then as players going on and executing, it's knowing your outs, where your guys are going to be and working together as a unit of five."

3. What does the signing of David Rittich mean for Semyon Varlamov?

Darche said Varlamov (knee surgery) was expected back on the ice last week. The 37-year-old missed the final 57 games of last season.

The Islanders signed Rittich, who turns 33 on Tuesday, to a one-year contract July 1, and could start the season with two goalies behind Ilya Sorokin.

"Things are going well right now, but we have to make sure that we protect ourselves," Darche said. "You saw last year this team had a lot of injuries, so you can never have enough goaltending. If everybody's healthy and playing great, it's a good problem to have and we'll deal with it then."