In this series, Heavy Sports is looking at what every NHL team has done over the offseason. Next up is the New York Islanders. The Islanders saw improvement last season, thanks to the emergence of star defenseman Matthew Schaefer. The 2025 1st overall pick had a historic Calder-winning season on their blueline as he made his mark as the top rookie in the NHL. Nevertheless, it was not enough to get them back in the playoffs as they narrowly missed out on a spot. They posted a 43-34-5 record, which gave them 91 points in the league standings. General manager Mathieu Darche made a coaching change late in the season by firing Patrick Roy and bringing Peter DeBoer aboard. The Isles hope to return to the postseason next season; they will have their work cut out for them in what is a competitive eastern conference.
Who are the Islanders Additions?
Key additions: Mitchell Chaffee, Ryan Healey, Matthew Kessel, Matias Maccelli, Vitek Vanecek
The biggest addition of the summer is Matias Maccelli as he signed with New York in free agency after suiting up for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. Maccelli recorded 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 71 games with Toronto last year. He will likely get an increased role on this club’s top six. Vitek Vanecek was brought in to add goaltending depth behind Ilya Sorokin while the team waits for Semyon Varlamov to come back from injury. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo received a two year $9 million extension. Top forward Matthew Barzal has been caught up in trade rumors, but nothing has materialized on that front.
Who are the Islanders Subtractions?
Key subtractions: Adam Boqvist, Marc Gatcomb, Marcus Hogberg, Cole McWard, Travis Mitchell, Anders Lee, David Rittich, Maxim Shabanov, Carson Soucy
The biggest loss for this team is the departure of their captain, Anders Lee. He heads off to the Utah Mammoth after a 14 year tenure with New York. Lee amassed 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points in 82 games last season. Backup goalie David Rittich signed with the New Jersey Devils. Forward Max Shabanov joins the Minnesota Wild.
Overall, its been a pretty quiet summer for this Islanders group, especially compared to most of their competition in the east. Not much has been done to improve this team over the offseason. It is a question mark if this squad is good enough to breakthrough for a playoff spot next season. The depth is there with this group; but they could use more x-factors in the arsenal. Their chances will count on seeing continued progression from Schaefer on the back-end; can he make a Norris trophy push in just his second season? Another infusion of youth would be welcome; can top prospect Victor Eklund make this team in training camp? They will need more from their recent veteran trade deadline acquisitions from last season. It will be interesting to see what DeBoer can do behind the bench in what will be his first full year coaching this team after just a 4 game sampling in this latest campaign. Perhaps, he can get more out of this vet-laden team in the pursuit of a postseason berth.
All transactions are available via Puck Pedia.
New York Islanders Offseason Recap