New York Islanders 2010 Preview & Predictions

New York Islanders 2010 Season Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

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NEW YORK ISLANDERS

2009-10 record: 34-37-11
Shootout Record: 8-6
Division Finish: 5th, Atlantic
Conference Finish: 13th Eastern
Goals For: 222
Goals Against: 264

New York Islanders 2010 Preview

Much of the talk surrounding the islanders is an ever-growing optimism over the young core the team is developing and the genuine hope that the club will be able to qualify for post-season play in the near future, if not this season.

Whatever the case, it’s clear the team is going to be one of the League’s most improved, as the Islanders keep building around John Tavares.

In just one year, Tavares gave the fans in Uniondale and environs plenty to get wired about. The Isles jumped from 61 to 79 points, improved by 21 goals and started to climb back up in the overall standings. They were one of the League’s best in overtime with eight home wins, the most in the Eastern Conference.

But general manager Garth Snow, trying to reverse three years out of the playoffs, doesn’t want to get complacent at this stage.

Tavares was tied in rookie goals with Matt Duchene of the Avalanche and finished second in rookie scoring to the Colorado forward by just one point. He also ranked right behind him in shooting percentage, passing him in rookie power-play goals and points.

After closing with seven goals in his final 17 games, the only off-season concern for Tavares was a broken foot, suffered during the final stages of the World Championship in the service of Team Canada.

Tavares joined a young Isles’ core that includes forwards Kyle Okposo, the surprisingly dangerous Matt Mowson and Josh Bailey, both already gaining respect around the League. Added to the mix at the draft – with New York’s fourth top 10 pick in five years – is Nino Niederreiter.

Not a big name until the final weeks of the junior hockey season and the draft itself, Niederreiter was the left winger on the WHL Portland Winter Hawks’ dynamite line with center Ryan Johansen. Niederreiter went fifth, one pick behind Johansen (Columbus).

As the forward positions start to fill, the club is also receiving some consistent goaltending again, as veteran Dwayne Roloson won 23 games and kept the team in a whole lot of others, not to mention provide a whiff of playoff contention. All . the hard work saw the 40-year-old signed to a new contract as insUrance for the injury-cursed Rick DiPietro.

It was another long and frustrating year of false starts and rehab for DiPietro, who has been held to a paltry 13 games the past two seasons after back-to-back 30-win performances coming out of the League work stoppage. His surgically repaired knee was the culprit once more.

Obligated to give him a long look when he came back at mid-season, the Isles had him for only eight games before he was back on injury reserve. The brief rotation with DiPietro, Roloson and Martin Biron wasn’t successful and a promising month of January morphed into a slump of 4-13-1.

Injuries took a toll on other parts of New York’s lineup as defenseman Radek Martinek was lost in early November, center Doug Weight required major shoulder surgery in March and center Rob Schremp tore a knee earlier that month and was scratched the balance of the season.

2010 New York Islanders Offense:

It’s predicted Tavares might follow the path of fellow NO.1 Steven Stamkos, who struggled in parts of his first year and then exploded for 95 points with Tampa Bay. Maybe that kind of leap on this kind of team is too much to ask for in Tavares’s second go-round, but he does know the turf a lot better now. Okposo, picked seventh overall in 2006, not only played a full season, but averaged more than 20 minutes a night, added 12 more assists from ’08-09 and potted four game-winning goals, enough that coach Scott Gordon could live with his minus-22. Moulson’s twisting road to the majors began at Cornell University, through Pittsburgh as a 263rd overall pick to 29 games in Los Angeles with a happy landing on the Island with 30 goals.. Of Richard Park’s nine goals, four were game-winners. The Isles moved for some toughness when 265-penalty-minute man Zenon Konopka signed and FA. Parenteau hopes to find steadier work here than with the Rangers.

2010 New York Islanders Defense:

Mark Streit found himself with 25-plus minutes’ worth of work per night for a second straight season, with lots of extra duties on special teams. He has scored in double figures in all his four full seasons in Montreal and New York. Some experience was injected when free agency opened as Milan Jurcina and Mark Eaton were signed from Washington and Pittsburgh, respectively. There was a huge drop in goals from Streit’s 11 to the next defenseman on the list, Freddy Meyer with four. But with Brendan Witt on the farm half a season and with Martinek out most of the year, 12 men were called upon to play at least one game on the Isles’ blueline. Besides Streit’s 38 assists, three others reached double figures, Jack Hipen, Bruno Gervais and pending free agent Meyer.

2010 New York Islanders Goaltending:

DiPietro’s knee continues to be a concern, but there is no doubt his puck-handling expertise gives New York a different dimension when he does suit up. He still hasn’t turned 30 and could yet make a huge impact as the Isles move toward playoff territory. The ageless Rollie the Goalie, meanwhile, should give the team more quality starts in 2010-11. He is 10 wins shy of 200 and until his past two years with Edmonton and New York had never posted back-to-back 20-win seasons. There is room for a strong third goalie in the mix now that Martin Biron has crossed the street to the Rangers.

New York Islanders 2010 Special Teams

Penalty killing is another area where the Isles have to get better in a hurry. They gave up the second-most goals while short-handed on the road (71), more than one a night on average. Their 16% power play was also bottom five in the League and would have looked a lot worse had Tavares not fired 11 goals and Streit nine. The rest of the soft-shooting Isles had a collective 29. Winger Sean Bergenheim had two short-handed tallies.

New York Islanders 2010 Season Predictions

New York was still in the playoff hunt in the closing days of the schedule and wasn’t that far off from the eighth seed where the Canadiens were able to launch an improbable post-season run. But it will take more than a big year by Tavares to allow the Isles that kind of positive reversal.

We predict that the New York Islanders will finish 5th in the NHL Atlantic.

New York Islanders Betting

New York Islanders Stanley Cup Odds: +10000
New York Islanders Eastern Conference Odds: +4500

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