A PGP Guide to: The New York Islanders

A PGP Guide to: The New York Islanders

The New York Islanders aesthetic is Long Island pride, royal blue and orange, Nassau Coliseum nostalgia, one of the greatest dynasties hockey has ever seen, an extremely personal hatred of the New York Rangers, goalie excellence, the Fisherman logo becoming cool approximately 25 years after everyone hated it, and a fanbase that will remind you, with justification, that their team once won four Stanley Cups in a row. The Islanders are one of the strangest franchises to explain because their history contains both incredible dominance and incredible dysfunction. They went from expansion team to dynasty in less than a decade, won an NHL record 19 consecutive playoff series, then spent years dealing with bad teams, unstable ownership, questionable decisions and an arena situation that seemingly never ended. More recently, they came within one game of the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, slipped backward again, and then somehow won the 2025 Draft Lottery with only a 3.5% chance and drafted Matthew Schaefer.

The Basics

Team: New York Islanders

Conference: Eastern Conference

Division: Metropolitan Division

Home Arena: UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, New York / Long Island

Franchise Founded: 1972

Team Colors: Royal blue, orange and white

Stanley Cups: 4 –1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

Biggest Rivals: New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals

The Islanders currently play at UBS Arena at Belmont Park, which opened in 2021 and finally gave the franchise the permanent modern home it had spent years trying to find. The arena is technically in Elmont on Long Island, right next to Belmont Park, and was intentionally designed to combine the atmosphere of Nassau Coliseum with modern arena amenities.

Longtime captain Anders Lee left for the Utah Mammoth in free agency on July 1, 2026, ending a 14 season Islanders career and an eight season run as captain. Bo Horvat was recently announced to replace him as captain, as he’s captained NHL teams before, but 19 year old Matthew Schaefer is already being discussed as a potential future captain.

The Origin Story

The Islanders exist partly because the NHL didn’t want a rival hockey league taking Long Island. In the early 1970s, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was being built on Long Island and the new World Hockey Association planned to place its New York Raiders there. The NHL had no interest in allowing the WHA to establish itself in the country's biggest media market, so it approved a Long Island expansion franchise alongside the Atlanta Flames for the 1972-73 season. Rangers president Bill Jennings later openly acknowledged that keeping the WHA out of the new Nassau arena was a major motivation. There was one slight complication given that the New York Rangers already existed. Long Island fell within their territorial rights, so the new Islanders also had to compensate the Rangers for invading their market. Contemporary Islanders history puts that territorial payment at $4 million.

The new franchise was owned by Roy Boe, who also owned the ABA's New York Nets, and the team hired Bill Torrey as general manager. Torrey would become one of the most important figures in Islanders history because rather than trying to build an average expansion team quickly with aging veterans, he decided to build patiently through the draft. The Islanders went 12-60-6 in their first season which is just horrible, but being terrible gave them the first overall pick in the 1973 NHL Draft, which they used on defenseman Denis Potvin. Then came Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Billy Smith had already arrived through the 1972 Expansion Draft, and Bob Nystrom had been selected in the 1972 amateur draft and suddenly Bill Torrey was building a dynasty.

The Vibe Check

The Islanders are very specifically a Long Island hockey team. Yes, they're called the New York Islanders, but their identity has never really been Manhattan. The Islanders' logo literally has a map of Long Island inside it with their original home in Nassau County. Their fanbase is rooted heavily in Long Island and even the rivalry with the Rangers has always contained a little bit of Manhattan versus the Island.

There's also a major chip on the shoulder element to Islanders fandom. The Rangers are older, more nationally famous and play at Madison Square Garden. The Islanders responded to that by winning four consecutive Stanley Cups while the Rangers went 54 years without one. Naturally, Islanders fans bring this up.

The aesthetic is old school hockey mixed with extremely Long Island behavior – blue and orange jerseys, dynasty banners, loud crowds, parking lot vibes, extremely detailed chants and a fisherman who somehow survived long enough to become fashionable again.

The History You Need to Know

The Islanders became good incredibly fast. By their third season, 1974-75, they reached the playoffs for the first time. Their first opponent was, naturally, the Rangers. The Rangers were the established New York franchise while the Islanders were three years old, and New York eliminated the Rangers when J.P. Parise scored only 11 seconds into overtime of the deciding Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. Islanders GM Bill Torrey later described it as the victory that put the franchise on the map. In the next round, the Islanders fell behind the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 in the series and came all the way back to win in seven games, becoming only the second NHL team at the time to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

By the late 1970s, the pieces were basically in place. Denis Potvin was becoming one of the greatest defensemen in hockey, Bryan Trottier was an elite center, Clark Gillies brought size and toughness, Billy Smith was in net, then New York drafted Mike Bossy, who scored 53 goals as a rookie. The Islanders were excellent in 1978-79 but suffered a devastating playoff loss to the Rangers in the semifinals. That failure became one of the final lessons before everything clicked.

During the 1979-80 season, Bill Torrey traded for Butch Goring, widely considered the missing piece of the roster. The Islanders reached the 1980 Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers. Game 6 went to overtime with Bob Nystrom scoring to secure the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Then they won again in 1981, again in 1982, and again in 1983. Four consecutive Stanley Cups!!

They returned to the Stanley Cup Final again in 1984, attempting what became known as the Drive for Five, but Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers finally beat them. By that point, though, the Islanders had won 19 consecutive playoff series, which remains an NHL record. Think about that for a second…19 consecutive payoff series.

The dynasty also produced some completely ridiculous individual accomplishments. Mike Bossy scored at least 50 goals in nine straight seasons and became only the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in his team's first 50 games, matching Maurice Richard's legendary achievement in 1981.

As all dynasties do, this one aged as well, and the Islanders remained relevant for a while and made one particularly memorable run in 1993, when they upset the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 overtime on a David Volek goal to reach the conference final. But after that, things got rough.

The 1990s and 2000s included losing seasons, ownership problems, arena issues, terrible trades and the infamous Fisherman logo era. In 1995, the Islanders replaced their classic logo with a bearded fisherman in a raincoat surrounded by waves. Rangers fans immediately noticed that it looked vaguely like the Gorton's Fisherman and started chanting “We want fish sticks.” Islanders fans hated it too, so the team abandoned the design after only two seasons. Naturally, decades later, everyone decided it was cool.

The Islanders finally found another franchise centerpiece when they drafted John Tavares first overall in 2009. He eventually became captain and, in 2016, scored in double overtime against Florida to give the Islanders their first playoff series victory since 1993. Then Tavares left for Toronto in free agency in 2018 and Isles fans absolutely lost it. But weirdly, the team immediately got better under new general manager Lou Lamoriello and head coach Barry Trotz. In 2019, New York swept Pittsburgh in the first round. Then in 2020, the Islanders reached the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1993. They lost to Tampa Bay, but they reached the semifinal round again in 2021 against Tampa. This time, the series reached Game 7 and the Islanders lost 1-0, with Tampa scoring the only goal shorthanded. Tampa went on to win the Stanley Cup so for Islanders fans, that remains one of the biggest modern what if moments.

Finally, the Islanders said goodbye to Nassau Coliseum and finally moved into UBS Arena.

The Icons

Mike Bossy

The goal scorer.

Mike Bossy might be one of the greatest pure goal scorers hockey has ever seen. He scored 573 goals in only 752 NHL games, all with the Islanders, and had nine consecutive 50-goal seasons to begin his career. He scored 60 or more five times and famously hit 50 goals in 50 games in 1980-81. Bossy won all four Stanley Cups and the 1982 Conn Smythe Trophy. His career ended far too early because of back problems, but his numbers are ridiculous even by Hall of Fame standards.

Bryan Trottier

The complete superstar.

Bryan Trottier was the center at the heart of the Islanders dynasty and remains the franchise's all-time leader in games played, assists and points. He recorded 1,353 points in 1,123 games as an Islander, won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy, and helped New York win all four Cups. Trottier and Bossy together were basically unfair.

Denis Potvin

The franchise defenseman.

The Islanders drafted Denis Potvin first overall in 1973 after their disastrous inaugural season.

That worked out. Potvin won three Norris Trophies, became captain and led New York through the dynasty era. He was one of the NHL's defining defensemen and became the first defenseman in league history to reach 1,000 career points. And if you've ever been to a Rangers game, you may have heard the chant: “Potvin sucks!” It stems from a 1979 collision between Potvin and Rangers forward Ulf Nilsson and has somehow survived for decades after Potvin retired. 

Billy Smith

The goalie nobody wanted to play against.

Billy Smith was not interested in making opponents comfortable. He was competitive, aggressive, extremely willing to use his stick and exactly the kind of goalie you would expect to thrive behind the Islanders dynasty. Smith won all four Stanley Cups, the 1983 Vezina Trophy and the 1983 Conn Smythe Trophy. He also became the first goalie in NHL history to receive credit for scoring a goal when he was the last Islander to touch the puck before an opponent accidentally put it into his own empty net.

Clark Gillies

The muscle on the dynasty line.

Clark Gillies played alongside Trottier and Bossy on the famous Trio Grande line. He was big, physical and capable of scoring, giving the Islanders exactly the kind of protection and power that complemented his superstar linemates. Gillies also served as captain before Potvin and won all four Cups.

Bob Nystrom

Mr. Islander.

If you score the overtime goal that wins a franchise its first Stanley Cup, people tend to remember you. Bob Nystrom spent his entire NHL career with the Islanders and became known as Mr. Islander because of his loyalty, effort and connection to the franchise. His 1980 overtime Cup winner remains probably the single most important goal in Islanders history. The Islanders have an annual Bob Nystrom Award recognizing the player who best represents leadership, hustle and dedication.

Butch Goring

The final piece.

Butch Goring arrived in a trade during the 1979-80 season when the Islanders were already very good, but when Goring arrived, so did 4 Stanley Cups. You can understand why people connect the two things. He won the 1981 Conn Smythe Trophy and remains heavily tied to the organization today through his work as an Islanders broadcaster.

Pat LaFontaine

Pat LaFontaine arrived right as the dynasty was ending and became one of the biggest Islanders stars of the next generation. He was fast, incredibly skilled and one of the best American-born players of his era. His Islanders career included one of the most famous games in franchise history: the 1987 “Easter Epic”, when LaFontaine scored in the fourth overtime against Washington to win Game 7.

John Tavares

The complicated modern franchise player.

We have to include him. Sorry, Islanders fans. New York drafted John Tavares first overall in 2009, and for nearly a decade he was basically the entire hope of the franchise. He became captain, developed into one of the NHL's elite centers, scored the double OT goal that ended a 23 year playoff series drought in 2016, and then left for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2018. The fact that Tavares had publicly spoken about wanting to stay made the departure hurt even more. His return to Long Island was not warm, not even close.

The Current Era

The current Islanders era basically began with 3.5% odds. After missing the playoffs in 2024-25, New York entered the 2025 Draft Lottery with only the 10th-best odds of winning anddddd they won. The Islanders jumped all the way from No. 10 to No. 1 overall, and they selected Matthew Schaefer.

At the same time, the organization itself was changing. Lou Lamoriello's contract was not renewed, and in May 2025 the Islanders hired former Tampa Bay executive Mathieu Darche as general manager and executive vice president. Darche had been part of the Lightning front office during their 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup championships. The 2025-26 season initially looked like a major improvement and Schaefer was ridiculous. At only 18 years old, he had 23 goals and 59 points in all 82 games, tied Brian Leetch's NHL record for goals by a rookie defenseman, set the NHL record for points by an 18 year old defenseman and averaged 24:41 of ice time. Then he became the first unanimous Calder Trophy winner since Teemu Selanne in 1993.

Unfortunately, the actual team collapsed at the worst possible time. The Islanders went 1-7-0 in their final eight games, fell out of a playoff position and finished 43-34-5 with 91 points, missing the postseason for the second consecutive year. With only four games remaining, Darche fired Patrick Roy and hired Peter DeBoer as head coach. DeBoer has taken New Jersey and San Jose to Stanley Cup Finals and reached the conference final in five of his most recent seven coaching seasons. He also somehow owns a 9-0 career record in Game 7s.

The offseason became about transition. Anders Lee left for Utah, New York signed skilled winger Matias Maccelli, goalie Vitek Vanecek, Mitchell Chaffee and Matthew Kessel, and Tony DeAngelo re-signed for two years. The Islanders also still have Brayden Schenn, whom they acquired from St. Louis at the 2026 trade deadline for Jonathan Drouin, goalie prospect Marcus Gidlof, a first round pick and a third round pick.  The center of gravity is shifting in this team and its shifting toward Matthew Schaefer.

Players You Need to Know

Matthew Schaefer

The new face of the franchise.

What were you doing at 19? Schaefer was drafted first overall in 2025 and immediately had one of the greatest teenage seasons by a defenseman in NHL history. He finished his rookie year with 23 goals, 36 assists and 59 points, tied the NHL rookie defenseman goal record, led all NHL defensemen with 269 skating bursts above 20 mph and became a unanimous Calder Trophy winner. He averaged 24:41 per game, at eighteen. Guys, this dude is insane, I don’t know what else to say. He's probably the single most important thing to know about the current team.

Mathew Barzal

The skill guy.

New York drafted him 16th overall in 2015, and he won the Calder Trophy in 2018 after recording 85 points as a rookie. Barzal is fast, creative, excellent with the puck and capable of producing the type of zone entries that make defenders look deeply inconvenienced. He bounced back offensively in 2025-26 with 72 points, including 53 assists. He's also one of the important links between the older Islanders core and whatever the Schaefer era becomes.

Ilya Sorokin

The elite goalie.

The Islanders really do love having a great goalie like Billy Smith, Glenn Resch, Chico Resch if we're being proper, and now Ilya Sorokin. Sorokin has established himself as one of the NHL's best goaltenders and is capable of winning games the Islanders have absolutely no business winning. Even in a somewhat uneven 2025-26 season, he finished with 29 wins and an NHL leading 7 shutouts. Over the past five seasons, he's one of only three goalies with at least 100 wins, 7,000 saves and 20 shutouts. 

Bo Horvat

The new captain.

Bo Horvat joined the Islanders in a major 2023 trade with Vancouver, where he had previously served as captain. He gives New York scoring, faceoff ability, two way play and leadership. Horvat scored 31 goals and 57 points in 2025-26, hit 300 career goals in the final game of the season and won the fan-voted Bob Nystrom Award for leadership, hustle and dedication. With Anders Lee gone, he’s the new captain.

Brayden Schenn

The veteran who arrived at the deadline.

The Islanders made a surprisingly aggressive move at the 2026 trade deadline when they acquired Brayden Schenn from St. Louis. Schenn captained the Blues, won the 2019 Stanley Cup with them and brings exactly the combination of physicality, leadership and playoff experience that this roster needed. He also produced 11 points in 19 games after joining the Islanders. 

Emil Heineman

The surprise scorer.

Emil Heineman came to New York from Montreal and quietly became one of the Islanders' better 2025-26 stories. He scored 22 goals, more than doubling the 10 he scored the year before with Montreal. He and fellow Swede Simon Holmstrom combined for 41 goals, giving the Islanders desperately needed secondary offense.

Simon Holmstrom

The homegrown forward finally becoming useful-useful.

Holmstrom was drafted 23rd overall in 2019, and his development took time. But he scored 19 goals and 40 points in 2025-26, giving New York another legitimate middle-six option. For an Islanders organization that desperately needs more offense generated internally, that's definitely being noted.

Alexander Romanov

The physical blue line piece.

Alexander Romanov is basically the counterbalance to Schaefer. Schaefer flies around creating offense while Romanov would generally prefer that you stop entering his side of the ice. He's physical, blocks shots and gives New York a more traditional defensive presence. The Islanders committed to him long term with an 8 year contract in 2025, making him part of the defensive core around Schaefer.

Matias Maccelli

The new skill addition.

One of New York's biggest needs has been more creativity on the wings, so this summer, the Islanders signed Matias Maccelli to a 1 year contract. Maccelli has 169 points through his first 295 NHL games and has already shown that he can create offense when put into the right role. Darche specifically pointed to his skill and ability to complement New York's top lines when discussing the signing. It's a low commitment bet they’re hoping pays big.

The Rivalries

New York Rangers

Rangers-Islanders is the Battle of New York. It’s Manhattan versus Long Island, Madison Square Garden versus Nassau Coliseum, and now UBS Arena, an Original Six establishment versus the expansion team that arrived in 1972 and immediately invaded Rangers territory. This rivalry essentially began the moment the Islanders were created, and then their first ever playoff series was against the Rangers. New York's new little expansion team went into Madison Square Garden in 1975 and eliminated the Rangers 11 seconds into overtime of the deciding game. Then the Rangers got revenge in 1979, eliminating an Islanders team that many expected to win the Cup. Then the Islanders became a dynasty and repeatedly tortured the Rangers during the early 1980s. The 1984 playoff matchup during the Islanders' Drive for Five was especially intense, with Ken Morrow scoring the overtime winner in the deciding game to give the Islanders their 17th consecutive playoff series victory.  And then there's the Potvin chant. Rangers fans have been yelling “Potvin sucks!” since 1979, but Denis Potvin retired in 1988, and it is now 2026. Basically, they hate eachother.

Pittsburgh Penguins

This rivalry has a bizarre amount of playoff history. The first major chapter came in 1975, when the Islanders fell behind Pittsburgh 3-0 in their playoff series and then won four consecutive games to complete one of the earliest 3-0 comebacks in NHL history. Then came 1993 when Pittsburgh was the two time defending Stanley Cup champion and looked like a potential dynasty. The Islanders didn't care as David Volek scored in overtime of Game 7 to eliminate Pittsburgh. Then in 2019, New York swept the Penguins in four games, and in 2021, the Islanders eliminated Pittsburgh again in six. Basically, Pittsburgh occasionally appears in Islanders history just so something deeply annoying can happen to Penguins fans.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have the honor of being on the losing end of the single biggest goal in Islanders history. New York faced Philadelphia in the 1980 Stanley Cup Final, game 6 went to overtime, Bob Nystrom scored and the Isles dynasty was born. The rivalry also made a major comeback during the 2020 bubble playoffs when the Islanders and Flyers met in the second round. Philadelphia forced the series to Game 7 after winning Games 5 and 6 in overtime, but New York responded with a 4-0 shutout to advance to its first conference final since 1993. Geography helps too as Long Island and Philadelphia aren't particularly far apart, and New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania sports fans are rarely looking for reasons to behave peacefully.

Washington Capitals

This rivalry is built largely on playoff trauma and two very specific moments.

First: The Easter Epic. In 1987, the Islanders and Capitals played Game 7 of their first-round series on Easter weekend. The game went to quadruple overtime and at 1:56 am,, Pat LaFontaine scored to win it for New York. This was one of the longest and most famous games in NHL history.

Second: 1993. The Islanders eliminated Washington in the Patrick Division semifinal, but the series is remembered for what happened after Pierre Turgeon scored to put away Game 6. Washington captain Dale Hunter hit Turgeon from behind well after the goal, separating Turgeon's shoulder and knocking him out for much of the next round. Hunter received what was then an NHL record 21 game suspension.

The Fanbase

Islanders fans have gone through enough arena drama to qualify for some kind of compensation. For most of the franchise's history, the spiritual home was Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, affectionately known simply as the Coliseum. It wasn't glamorous or enormous, it was actually pretty old with cramped hallways and a low roof, and during big games, it was just absurd. Former Islanders repeatedly described the noise as different from other buildings because the fans were essentially sitting on top of the ice. 

The team moved to Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2015, which was…complicated. The arena wasn't designed properly for hockey. Some seats had obstructed views, the scoreboard wasn't even centered above the rink because the ice itself wasn't centered properly in the basketball designed building. Islanders fans hated losing their Long Island home. Eventually, the team began splitting games between Brooklyn and the renovated Coliseum before finally moving into UBS Arena in 2021.

The fans themselves are also extremely chant heavy. Groups like the Blue and Orange Army have become known for bringing organized chants and European style supporter energy into Islanders games, and the franchise now recognizes supporter clubs across multiple countries.

And the Fisherman deserves one more mention. When the Islanders introduced the fisherman logo in 1995, fans despised it so the team abandoned it after 1997. Then nostalgia did its thing as it does. By the 2020s, Fisherman merchandise became popular enough that the franchise brought the logo back on a Reverse Retro jersey in 2022. In August 2026, Islanders fans literally got to vote on the team's future third jersey, and a navy Lighthouse design won like, how did we go from hating it to loving it? 

The Retired Numbers

The Islanders have officially retired 8 numbers and basically all of them are tied to the dynasty era.

No. 5 — Denis Potvin

The captain, three-time Norris Trophy winner and defensive foundation of the dynasty.

No. 9 — Clark Gillies

The power forward from the Trio Grande, former captain and four time champion. 

No. 19 — Bryan Trottier

The franchise's all time points leader, Hart winner, Conn Smythe winner and center of the dynasty.

No. 22 — Mike Bossy

One of the greatest pure goal scorers in NHL history. Nine straight 50-goal seasons.

No. 23 — Bob Nystrom

Mr. Islander and the man who scored the goal that started the dynasty.

No. 27 — John Tonelli

A four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the dynasty's most important playoff performers. The Islanders retired his No. 27 in 2020, although Anders Lee was allowed to continue wearing it for the rest of his Islanders career. 

No. 31 — Billy Smith

The dynasty goalie, Vezina winner, Conn Smythe winner and deeply unpleasant man to stand near if you were an opposing forward.

No. 91 — Butch Goring

The Islanders retired Goring's number in 2020 in recognition of the role his arrival played in launching the four Cup dynasty.

The Team Identity

For a long time, Islanders identity was essentially not having the glamour of the Rangers, but having the banners. Then the modern identity became defensive structure, goaltending and making games incredibly annoying under Barry Trotz and now it's changing again.

The most important development in the entire organization is Matthew Schaefer because he gives New York something they haven't had in years, which is a potentially franchise-defining young superstar arriving at exactly the moment the old core is beginning to turn over. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are already gone from the previous era. The roster still contains established players like Barzal, Horvat, Sorokin, Pulock and Pelech, but Schaefer immediately became the centerpiece. There are other young pieces too. Victor Eklund, selected 16th overall in 2025, made his NHL debut in the final game of last season and recorded an assist. Kashawn Aitcheson, taken immediately after Eklund at Number 17, is another major defensive prospect. Cole Eiserman remains one of the organization's most interesting goal scoring prospects, and the Islanders' September 2026 rookie camp includes all three. 

However, this isn’t a rebuild. Darche traded a first round pick for Brayden Schenn at the deadline, Barzal is in his prime, Horvat is in his prime, Sorokin is an elite goalie, Peter DeBoer was hired because his entire recent coaching history is basically him showing up and immediately making a playoff run. So New York is trying to transition generations without bottoming out which is really difficult. 

The 2025-26 season showed why that might actually be possible. The Islanders missed the playoffs, but they improved by nine points. Schaefer became a star immediately, Barzal returned to 72 points, Horvat scored 31 goals, Sorokin led the NHL in shutouts, their rookies combined for 112 points, second most in the NHL, so there’s something brewing here for sure.

Why You Should Watch Them

You should watch the New York Islanders because they have one of the weirdest combinations of history, nostalgia, local identity and genuinely exciting future potential in hockey. You get the dynasty with legends like Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith who brought four consecutive Stanley Cups. This is a franchise with 19 straight playoff-series wins, the Easter Epic, Bob Nystrom's overtime goal, the Fisherman disaster. Their captain John Tavares left, Nassau Coliseum is no longer, the Barclays Center mess, back to back trips to the NHL's final four. Also, there’s the Rangers hatred that has existed basically from the moment the franchise was born.

Now, in the modern era, the hatred for the Rangers remains, but you get Matthew Schaefer, an 18 year old defenseman who came into the NHL, scored 23 goals and 59 points, played almost 25 minutes a night, tied an NHL record and unanimously won Rookie of the Year. He’s also one of the easiest players to LOVE!  Around him, they still have Mathew Barzal creating offense, Bo Horvat scoring goals, Ilya Sorokin stealing games, a new coach with an absurd playoff resume and a GM actively trying to reshape the roster. The Islanders spent a lot of recent seasons feeling stuck between the old era and whatever came next, but Schaefer is definitely their solution.