Stop us if you've heard this one before: the 2023-24 New York Islanders are above-average at suppressing scoring, and below-average in scoring themselves. Who could've seen this coming for the Isles?
In a mixed-bag start to the season, the Islanders aren't in a bad spot. They currently boast the NHL's 12th-best points percentage (.591), good for seventh in the Eastern Conference. Their defense ranks seventh in goals-against per game, but only five NHL teams score at a worse rate.
The power play is bottom-10. Again, this probably doesn't surprise anyone who follows this team.
But not everything has gone to plan for the Islanders, both pleasantly and unpleasantly. Let's choose one from each ledger to examine 11 games into the season.
Noah Dobson taking the leap
The 2022-23 season felt like a bit of a stepback for Noah Dobson, or at least, a stagnant one. The young D-man posted 52 points in 80 games the prior season. But instead of building off that 2021-22 total and leveling up, Dobson scored the same amount of goals (13) and three fewer assists (36, down from 39) in two fewer games.
So far this season, Dobson has been not only the Islanders' best player, but one of the best defensemen in the NHL. His four goals trail only the Vancouver Canucks' Quinn Hughes, the Ottawa Senators' Jakob Chychrun, and Dougie Hamilton of the New Jersey Devils.
Dobson is tied for sixth in the NHL among defensemen in points, and he's averaging an even 1.0 points per game.
There is no doubting Dobson's talent and ability to be a top-four defensemen in the league. And his ability to turn defense into offense is an attribute sorely lacking in the Islanders' defensive corps. But the 2023 version of Dobson has been much better than that; if he can keep this pace up, he'll be a no-doubt top pairing guy for the Isles.
Ilya Sorokin not himself
Let's caveat this section with some thoughts. Mainly, that it's early and that by the end of the Islanders' season, Sorokin will almost certainly prove himself as one of the team's best players. He's played in seven games, so it's hardly a huge sample size, and yes, Sorokin is damaged a bit by the sky-high expectations he carries.
With all of that out of the way, it's tough not to point out that Sorokin has had a sluggish start to the 2023-24 season.
Sorokin is sporting an unsightly 3.12 goals-against-average through seven games, and his .911 save percentage is 27th in the NHL.
But it's even simpler than rattling off Sorokin's stats. In four of Sorokin's seven starts up to now, the Islanders have scored three or more goals and lost.
New York has lost three straight home games, despite holding a lead in each one. To be fair, Sorokin was between the pipes in two of those games. Backup Semyon Varlamov got in on the fun as well.
For a team that so centrally relies on its goaltending to keep it in games and steal victories, blowing leads at home that result in losses is completely unacceptable. If the trend continues, the Islanders will have no shot at a playoff berth.
Coming off a 2022-23 season in which he placed second in Vezina Trophy voting, Sorokin was rewarded with an eight-year, $66 million contract extension by the Islanders. The implication was clear: now go and win your own Vezina.
Sorokin is going to be judged more harshly than his counterparts. Both because of the contract and the lofty expectations he has set for himself. In the long run, he'll be fine. But 11 games into the season, he simply hasn't been good enough.
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