What's Wrong w/ New York Islanders

The New York Islanders have not gotten off to a great start to the season this year; for a team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, this is surely a disappointing start. What is Wrong with the New York Islanders? What can be done to fix their issues?

Issues with New York Islanders:

1. Lack of Goal Scoring

2. Defense isn't as good

3. Team is too old

4. Injuries

The New York Islanders are last in the Metropolitan division and have scored the second-fewest goals in the entire league. A big reason for this is the loss of Jordan Eberle to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. Eberle had been a major part of their team and was one of their more reliable offensive players last year. After losing Eberle, the Islanders re-sign Kyle Palmieri and signed Zach Parise to provide depth scoring. The Isles have only scored 29 goals this season, only the Arizona Coyotes have scored fewer goals this season.

One of the strengths of the Islanders teams' under Barry Trotz is the defense, but their defense hasn't been as good this year. They traded away Nick Leddy, who had been a major part of their defense for a long time, and that left the left side of their defense pretty weak. Zdeno Chara was brought in to provide some depth on defense, but he clearly is two years past retirement.

Another major issue with the New York Islanders is that the team is too old. The Average age for forwards on the Islanders is 28.8 years old; Zach Parise is the oldest player at 37 years old, followed by Cal Clutterbuck, who is 33, and Matt Martin at 32 years of age. The Average age for defensemen on the Islanders is 30.3 years old; Zdeno Chara is 44 and Andy Greene is 39. The NHL is a young man's game, and having so many players on the roster over the age of 30 definitely have attributed to their slow start.

A big part of the reason why the team had a slow start to the season is due to injuries. Semyon Varlamov missed the first 10 games of the season for the Islanders, Anders Lee is off to a slow start because he is coming off an ACL injury. Ryan Pulock will miss a couple weeks due to a lower-body injury, which will leave their defense severely depleted. Josh Bailey is also going to miss some time due to COVID.

In order to fix the team, the Islanders will need to make a few trades.

Trades:

New York Islanders trade Zdeno Chara, 2022 2nd round pick to the Boston Bruins for Derek Forbort.

Zdeno Chara gets to go back to Boston to finish out his career, while the Islanders get a big, physical defenseman in Derek Forbort to stabilize the back-end.

The Islanders also trade Kieffer Bellows, Sebastian Aho to the Buffalo Sabres for Jacob Bryson, Rasmus Asplund.

This trade is great for both teams and all players involved; hopefully Bryson and Asplund can take their game to the next level.

Semyon Varlamov is traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Joonas Korpisalo, Andrew Peeke, 2022 2nd round pick.

The Islanders trade away Varlamov, so they can hand over the reigns to Sorokin, and at the same time bolster their defense.

This is how the lineup looks like after the trades:

A.Lee-M.Barzal-O.Wahlstrom

R.Asplund-B.Nelson-A.Beauvillier

Z.Parise-JG Pagueau-K.Palmieri

M.Martin-C.Cizikas-C.Clutterbuck

A.Pelech-S.Mayfield

D.Forbort-N.Dobson

J.Bryson-A.Peeke

I.Sorokin

J.Korpisalo

IR: R.Pulock, J.Bailey

The Islanders have a younger and deeper team that should have a little more firepower in the lineup down the stretch.

FANTASY HOCKEY WAIVER WIRE PLAYERS TO PICKUP

C Sean Couturier -After missing 2+ years, Sean Couturier is back and it seems like he hasn't missed a beat. Believe it or not, Couturier has been one of the top centers in the league so far with his all-around play, putting up 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 PPP, 63 FW, 24 SOG, and 1 SHP. Despite showing that he is still an elite center, Couturier is only owned in 20% of fantasy leagues. Pick him up now, while you still can. Ryan Johansen - Serves as the Avalanche's 2nd line center and plays on their all-world 1st pp unit. Despite not being the player he used to be, Johansen is still a valuable fantasy asset because of the players he plays with. Johansen has 4 goals and 4 PPPs along with 63 FW so far this season. He is owned in 29% of fantasy leagues. Sean Monahan - Someone must have gotten a time machine and put Sean Monahan in it because he is playing like he was back when he was in his prime. Monahan has been arguably the best player on Montreal this year, with 3 goals, 6 points, 2 PP

FANTASY HOCKEY WAIVER WIRE PLAYERS TO PICKUP

Here are some players you should pickup in Fantasy Hockey, sorted by position. Center Colton Sissons Colton Sissons is one of the best 4th line centers in the league, but in fantasy hockey, he could be even more valuable than he actually is in real life because of what he provides in the peripheral categories. So far this season Sissions has 5 goals, 1 PPP, 1 SHP, 12 PIM, 20 SOG, 89 FW, 15 hits, and 9 blocks. This is a terrific stat line and although you can't count on Sissons scoring a ton, he will fill out the FW, Hits, and blocks usually. Sissons is owned in 6% of fantasy leagues, snag him up while you can. Nick Bjugstad Nick Bjugstad is having an excellent year so far with the Arizona Coyotes, in fact he has played so well that he earned himself a promotion to play on the 2nd line along with Mattias Maccelli and Lawson Crouse. Bjugstad also gets time on Arizona's 2nd PP unit and 2nd PK unit. Bjugstad may not be a name who stands out to casuals, but his fantasy stat line is

Fantasy Hockey Forwards to Trade For

Here is a list of Players who you should consider trading for in Fantasy Hockey. Tage Thompson Tage Thompson had very high expectations of him heading into this season but has been a massive disappointment to this point in the season with only 7 goals, 8 assists, 4 PPP, 60 SOG, and 99 FW. Thompson has been better after coming back from injury and you would think that he is going to eventually start putting points in bunches. Because of how bad Thompson's statline is this season. it would be a good idea to trade for him because you may not have to give up a lot in return. Elias Lindholm Elias Lindholm is another player who has had a slow start to the season with only 7 goals, 10 assists, 3 PPP, 68 SOG, and 297 FW so far this season. Lindholm is definitely going to want to play better if he wants to increase his value for his next contract and also showcase himself for a trade at the deadline. If Lindholm gets dealt to a contending team, his fantasy value would drastically improve b

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