For six lengthy weeks, the Islanders’ plan amounted to ready for his or her injured stars to get wholesome.
The thought was if they may stick round NHL .500, on the periphery of the playoff race, then the pending returns of Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech would certainly vault them above the mushy center of the Jap Convention and into the postseason.
For one evening — when Duclair returned Dec. 21 and the Islanders performed their greatest recreation of the season, thrashing the Maple Leafs, 6-3 — it seemed like there could be some credence to that idea.
That was one evening.
Duclair, in 5 video games since returning to the lineup, has one aim and two assists and has hardly ever impacted video games.
Barzal, in seven video games since returning, has one aim (into an empty internet) and two assists, with flashes of his regular talent interspersed by lengthy intervals the place he’s been invisible.
The Islanders, in these seven video games — Pelech returned on the identical day as Barzal — are 2-5-0, with one other match in opposition to the Maple Leafs developing at UBS Enviornment on Thursday.
There may be loads of blame to go round right here for a month through which the Islanders’ playoff possibilities have dwindled massively, however aside from Bo Horvat, not one of the membership’s stars have performed like stars.
Barzal and Duclair, a minimum of, have the excuse of getting back from harm, and it does usually take gamers just a few weeks of taking part in to get their cardio utterly again. (This, curiously, was by no means factored into the entire concept that the Islanders simply wanted to get wholesome).
Ilya Sorokin, who has been given a heavy workload with Semyon Varlamov nonetheless damage and is struggling to cope with it, doesn’t. He has let up three or extra targets in all however one in all his previous seven begins with an .853 save proportion all through.
Coach Patrick Roy’s administration of the Islanders internet deserves some scrutiny after Marcus Hogberg — lastly given an opportunity to play in Pittsburgh on Sunday — seemed greater than competent, however Sorokin is the fourth-highest-paid energetic netminder within the league.
Brock Nelson — who suffered his first scoreless month with greater than three video games performed since February 2014 — is lacking an excuse, too.
The very best years of Nelson’s profession have all come after he turned 30, and the Islanders didn’t entertain the concept of transferring him on the final commerce deadline, when he would have fetched a excessive value.
There’s been ample hypothesis he may very well be moved this yr and that he could be maybe probably the most priceless asset accessible if that’s the route the Islanders go.
If he can’t get well his recreation quickly, although, the potential return in a commerce may very well be impacted.
Extra instantly, the Islanders want extra from him than they’re getting proper now if there’s any probability to salvage the season.
Ditto for Barzal, Duclair and Sorokin.
Noah Dobson has recovered considerably from a sluggish begin to the season, however you could possibly throw him on this combine, too, together with his offensive manufacturing lagging behind what it was a yr in the past and anticipated improvement within the defensive zone but to point out itself constantly.
On paper, the Islanders depth chart — a minimum of when they’re wholesome — ought to be ok to get them into the playoffs.
There was actual purpose to be excited this offseason about how deep the ahead group abruptly seemed with Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov being a part of issues, and it wasn’t loopy to suppose they may make a run as soon as lastly wholesome.
However for that to occur, the Islanders stars should be stars.
In any other case, their issues are going to be far larger than simply lacking the playoffs in 2025.
