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The New York Islanders are off to a poor start to the 2024-25 season. They are NHL-.500 after a loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. After two straight eliminations in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes, general manager Lou Lamoriello knew improvements were necessary. The changes he did make have not stopped the massive problem the Islanders have holding third-period leads. That is not a surprise, but there is a big one for the Islanders, as well as one disappointment.
The 2024-25 Islanders are built through their goaltender. Ilya Sorokin has started his eight-year, $8.5 million extension with one of the best months of his career. His 2.70 goals-against average and .913 save percentage should led to a better record than 4-4-3. That isn't the surprise but as long as Sorokin is not the disappointment he was last year, the team will be in decent shape.
Let's look at the biggest surprise and disappointment of the season so far for the New York Islanders.
Anders Lee is having a solid offensive season
The main criticism of the Islanders' roster is that they are old, especially at forward. The biggest embodiment of that is captain Anders Lee, who entered his 13th NHL season at 34 years old. He was coming off his worst offensive season in years, with a 10.8% shooting percentage, his lowest in a full season since 2015-16. This year, things have picked up for Lee.
Through 18 games, Lee has seven goals and is shooting 11.8%. His goal pace puts him over 30 for the entire season, which would be only the second time he reached that mark in his career. With the tremendous injuries at forward, the Islanders need Lee to keep up the pace to have any chance to make the playoffs.
This was surprising because it looked like Lee was over the hill last season. He was never fleet of foot and lost a step, never a great shooter and could not get the shot off, and was not even dominating the front of the crease. Lee made a career on the net-front goals and did not get those last year. He has them this year and the Islanders are much better off for it.
Islanders' Mathew Barzal must pick up scoring pace
On the opposite end of Lee, Mathew Barzal has been dreadful this season. While he has been out for a few weeks with an injury, it was his play before then that tags him as the Islanders' biggest disappointment. Through ten games, he has just two goals and three assists, among the lowest totals on the team. Neither of those goals is at even strength, which highlights a massive issue for New York.
Barzal is the poster boy for the true disappointment of the Islanders' season; the offense. Entering Monday's action, they are 25th in the league in goals-per-game. A few solid performances have pulled them out of the basement, but not by much. With Barzal on the shelf, other players like Lee have stepped up. But when he gets back, the star 27-year-old must dominate.
The Islanders are seeing their playoff chances slip away with every blown third-period lead. Their most recent loss to the Kraken was another example of the offense not being able to pick up the defense early in the game, edging out a one-goal lead, and then collapsing at the end. Barzal is the key to making sure that does not happen anymore and he must score at a high level to do so.
