Pulock, Islanders don't expect big changes in offseason

ALBERTSON, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders will go through some changes this offseason, but defenseman Ryan Pulock doesn't anticipate a major overhaul.

"Every single team has to go through this," Pulock said Thursday. "I don't think that we need a big change. Yeah, we have an older group, but I think those guys are important to the leadership and the success on this team. They've been here and they know what it takes. I think it's a tweak here and there. I don't think it has to be anything crazy."

Pulock and several Islanders alumni spent Thursday at the 56th annual Celebrity Sports Night at the Viscardi Center.

The event was taking place during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. It was the Hurricanes who knocked the Islanders out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round in six games.

The Islanders, whose roster has an average age of 28.92, 24th in NHL, could be facing a reload in lieu of a rebuild, whether the players come through the system or through free agency and trades.

"I think you're going to explore everything," said Steve Webb, an Islanders forward from 1997 to 2003. "The stability is there. It's hard to keep teams together nowadays."

The Islanders (42-31-9) clinched the first wild card into the playoffs from the East despite injuries to forwards Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, Oliver Wahlstrom, Cal Clutterbuck, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom, and defensemen Adam Pelech and Noah Dobson during the season.

They also treaded water between playoff contender and missing out for the second consecutive season. New York averaged 2.95 goals per game (22nd) and allowed 2.65 goals-against per game (fifth). The power play ranked 30th (15.8 percent) and was 1-for-18 with one short-handed goal against in the first round.

An argument can be made that the Islanders wouldn't have made the postseason if not for Ilya Sorokin going 31-22-7 with a 2.34 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and six shoutouts that made him a finalist for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the top goalie in the NHL.

Zach Parise, a 38-year-old forward, is one of five Islanders who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1 (Pierre Engvall, Scott Mayfield, Parker Wotherspoon, Semyon Varlamov). Wahlstrom and defenseman Samuel Bolduc are pending restricted free agents. Hudson Fasching signed a two-year contract May 1, preventing the forward from becoming a UFA.

Changes were minimal during the 2022 offseason with the trade for defenseman Alexander Romanov and promoting Lane Lambert from associate coach to replace Barry Trotz. There were bigger moves prior to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3. Forward Bo Horvat was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 30 and signed an eight-year contract Feb. 5. Engvall arrived in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 28.

More may be coming.

"I think that there might be a few things in the works," said Bobby Nystrom before he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. "The team's a little older. They might need a little bit of new blood in there."

One decision could be moving on from Josh Bailey, a 33-year-old forward who will enter the final season of a six-year contract. The No. 9 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft and the longest-tenured Islander had 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) while averaging an NHL career-low 15:08 of ice time in 64 regular-season games and did not dress during the playoffs. Ownership also must decide whether Lou Lamoriello, 80, will return for his sixth season as president and general manager, which could affect whether Lambert is back as coach.

Horvat getting a full training camp should also make a big difference. After having 31 goals in 49 games for the Canucks prior to the trade, he had 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 30 regular-season games for the Islanders and a goal and an assist in six playoff games.

"People often ask me, 'What's your most favorite Cup?' And I go, 'The second year, because I felt like an Islander,'" Islanders television analyst Butch Goring said. "The second year, I was with those guys. I partied with those guys. I traveled on the road with those guys. I saw their personalities. I practiced with them. Horvat is going to be a much more adjusted player, a lot more comfortable player, not only on ice but off ice."

Horvat and the Islanders will be back with greater expectations, even if other names and faces are different. They went 19-9-4 in final 32 games of the season to clinch a playoff berth. Two losses to the Hurricanes were in overtime, including 2-1 in Game 6 which ended the Islanders season.

"I think we're a lot closer than people think we are," Goring said. "We could have easily won that series against the Hurricanes, but they let Game 2 (4-3 overtime loss) get away. We're not so far away. We have some areas that we need to get better."