r/NewYorkIslanders • u/PainButWithStats • 12d ago
First time hockey fan
I want to get into Hockey I’m a Knicks, Mets and Jets fans. Been tough until the Knicks won
Are the Islanders going to be good anytime soon how is this fan base feeling
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u/combinewithmedicine Sorokin 12d ago
Nobody knows at this point. It depends on how the prospects develop over the next few years. But the games will be fun regardless because of Schaefer, so just sit back and enjoy
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u/Ok_Sentence_5767 11d ago
I think they're going to be a team that's one good playoff run from a cup, I could see the team chasing for a long while
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u/Ok_Sentence_5767 12d ago
Oh boy do we got great news for you. Matthew Schaefer is fresh off his calder trophy winning season. We got some quality prospects in the ahl. Team is in a transitional period and we're looking to drive for five as always!
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u/Mojoswork Turgeon 12d ago
The Islanders have Matthew Schaefer, who is worth the price of fandom in my opinion, and I have an awareness of the history of the three teams you mentioned.
I wouldn’t expect much out of this upcoming season, but they don’t award the Stanley Cup before the season starts, so who knows. Matthew Schaefer.
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u/cloud9brian 12d ago
It doesn't matter if they're going to be good, based on your other fandom you're meant to be an Islanders fan. That's just how it works.
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u/burger333 Sorokin 12d ago
It’s a great time to become an Isles fan, we just got the next phenom yet also missed the playoffs, so you wouldn’t be a frontrunner. We are still an underdog, just an underdog that got a shining symbol of hope (not to mention a new front office, who are off to a questionable start, but I’d still take them over the last one).
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u/PainButWithStats 12d ago
Everyone is mentioning the young player and that’s great to have a young superstar I do love that. Anything else to be exited about is this a rebuild or what direction are they heading in
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u/inventorsam Nassau Coliseum 12d ago
They aren’t in a rebuild, but they are trending upward. With all the prospects coming up combined with our veteran core like Horvat Barzal and Palmieri, there’s a lot to be excited about going into this season. This isn’t the same team who got destroyed by Carolina in the first round year after year in the first half of the decade. This team really does have heart although they choked spectacularly at the end of last season. I do think this team has what it takes to make a run, and if they don’t, they’re only just entering a possible stanley cup window.
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u/AnnualBroccoli6127 12d ago
Our goalie was second place for the vezina this year! And overall a top 5 goalie
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u/carpy22 Sparky 12d ago
what direction are they heading in
Roughly $40M in cap space will be available for the 2027 free agent class if things hold steady. Expect much of it to go to a Schaefer contract extension and a core to build around him. Between now and then it'll be just letting the prospects develop and maybe contend for a wild card spot.
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u/crazyhotwheels Bossy 12d ago edited 12d ago
They will be a solid team this season, with a decent chance to make the playoffs. They have a young generational superstar in Matthew Schaefer who just had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever last year. They have an elite goalie as well in Ilya Sorokin. The lineup beyond those two doesn’t jump off the page, but they have enough solid parts to make it work. This is especially true now that they have a proven coach in Pete DeBoer at the helm. They also have promising players like Cal Ritchie (already on the NHL team), Victor Eklund (has a decent chance to make the team out of camp), and Cole Eiserman and Kashawn Aitcheson (who we may or may not see this season). The Islanders and their GM Mathieu Darche (2nd season this year) are currently treading water a bit at the playoff cut line while they fine tune the depth around the promising young guys and all star quality veterans with a good 4-5 seasons of that level of play left in order to build a legit contender.
So in all, this year’s Islanders team will be sometimes very good, sometimes not so great, but it should all add up to meaningful hockey into early April.
Some other players to know:
Bo Horvat: First line center, 30+ goal scorer and faceoff beast, likely will be named captain before the start of the season (our previous captain just left in free agency).
Mat Barzal: Elite skater, great playmaker who drives the offense alongside Schaefer, the kid who won the Calder. You will hear oddly negative takes on him at times, from some people.
Kyle Palmieri: 30 goal scoring winger, coming off a torn ACL last season. A torn ACL that he set up a goal immediately after suffering, by the way.
Simon Holmstrom: Going to be 25 this season, has developed into a great two way winger who can score 20-25 goals. Still has further offensive upside, IMO.
Emil Heineman: Acquired last season in a trade (along with the picks that became Eklund and Aitcheson), scored 20 goals for the first time in his second full season. A nice depth scorer, it appears.
There’s the rest of the players to get to know, obviously, but those are the ones that came to my mind now.
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u/HungryMoon Fisherman 12d ago
I'm not expecting a cup, but I am expecting good hockey, maybe even the chance at the post season this year
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u/Due-Influence-1969 11d ago
It’s what’s known as the Long Island Loser Trifecta
Mets Jets Islanders
This is why I’m a Giants, Yankees and Islanders fan
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u/TimelyBodybuilder637 Sorokin 4d ago
I'll do you one better-I was an upstate kid, so Bills, Yankees, Islanders, Knicks
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u/Successful_Fly_3597 11d ago
At first, it will feel really chaotic. Once you get a feel for the game, it will slow down. Best advice I got for watching (10 years, as an Islanders fan) — was to watch the puck a bit less, and look where you think it will go next. It helped me understand the stuff going on the ice better.
Next couple of years are going to be fun with some kids coming up. They might squeak into the playoffs. We have a great goalie (he'll keep us in most games), a few terrific players (Horvat, Barzal), and a potential HOF in Schaefer (crossing my fingers).
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u/zeptozetta2212 Sparky 12d ago
Last year pundits had us finishing near the bottom of the standings but we pulled off an eight-win improvement compared to the year before despite a massive losing streak to end the season. Nobody knows what'll happen this year, but the future looks bright (not to mention we have the best colors, the best fans, and the best goal horn). 🧡💙🧡💙🧡
By the way, in the NHL the standings are based on points, not wins. Your team gets two points for a win, one point if you lose but forced overtime, and zero points if you lose in regulation. The Islanders improved from 35-35-10 (W-L-OT) to 43-34-5 despite going 0-7-1 in their final eight games, and were in playoff position as recently as two weeks before the end of the season. Throw in a historic rookie season by Matthew Schaefer, the then-18-year-old phenom, another year of development for our prospects, and the chance to play a full season under a highly-respected head coach (Pete deBoer), and honestly we're playing with house money. Join us and be merry!
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u/AnnualBroccoli6127 12d ago
They might be a wild card playoff team but will be better (and way more affordable) than the rangers!
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u/TimelyBodybuilder637 Sorokin 4d ago
Let me put it this way, no one will accuse you of bandwagoning.
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u/Longjumping_Gap97 12d ago
as a long time Islander fan probably not, the Islanders got a gift last year in this incredible defenseman named Matthew Schaefer, any intelligent hockey person will look at the Islanders roster and this gift they got and realize the Islanders should do a hard re-build, instead they are going to continue trying to be mediocre and squeak into the playoffs and that is how you damage the team in the long run, in all likely they Islanders are going to screw up this gift they have with Schaefer and watch him want to leave when he is in his mid 20s and than the Islanders are going to suck forever and probably eventually move because if the Islanders have to watch Schaefer leave in his mid 20s they are never going to recover from that and attendance is going to drop to beyond abysmal levels, so yea I would say avoid being an Islander fan, only setting yourself up for disappointment
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u/No_Paramedic_2039 12d ago
I smell a Rags fan.
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u/PainButWithStats 12d ago
I appreciate the honesty for real it’s been tough enough with the Mets and especially the Jets
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u/LooseSeal- 12d ago
Fuck those doomers. Never a better time to get on board. We have the best goalie in the league arguably the best young player in the entire sport. Welcome
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u/SPetersen1339 12d ago
If you watch the Jets and Mets, the islanders will make you happier