ELMONT, N.Y. — The romanticism of professional sports is abused at times — those instances when cut-and-dry logic is cast aside for blind loyalty.
A group that attained success yesterday, in theory, should compete today. But time’s unstoppable march slows them down, blunts their intensity, jades their spirit; whether that is admitted or not.
If the New York Islanders’ 2023-24 season taught us anything, it is time to bid farewell to some of the core pieces that revolutionized a franchise from the doldrums and throttled it back to relevance.
This is what most will consider the unpleasant — better known as the business side — part of the sport. Simply put, considerable moves are on the horizon to move the organization forward. This current group, which features 16 members of the teams that partook in two straight Stanley Cup semifinals in 2020 and 2021, is not capable of reaching that point again.
Yes, they showed an abundance of resiliency. They took the brunt of considerable blows that featured lengthy losing streaks, a change at head coach, 24 blown leads in the third period, and countless demoralizing losses and reeled off eight wins in their last nine games just to get to the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Once there, though, the gulf in class between New York and a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in Carolina was immeasurable. They played well enough in Games 1 and 3 to win but lacked the killer instinct necessary to get past Frederik Andersen.
They were thoroughly outclassed in Game 2, blowing a gift of a 3-0 lead by getting out-attempted 110-28 in a 5-3 loss. A team that seemed lost with leads all season looked just like that again, almost playing scared in allowing wave after wave of Hurricanes attacks. They allowed two goals in nine seconds that night which was topped by allowing two goals in eight seconds in Game 5 which broke a 3-3 third-period tie and ended New York’s season.
It is important to note that their second and third periods were remarkably improved from that Game 2 debacle.
Old habits die hard, though. The Islanders had a philosophy of limited risks and defense always hammered into their cerebellum for the better part of the last six years before Lane Lambert was removed and Patrick Roy was brought in behind the bench.
The Hall-of-Fame netminder then shook the foundation to its core, preaching fluid, offensive play supported by the defense. At times they looked unstoppable. More often than not before that final surge of the regular season, though, they struggled. Before those last nine games of the season, New York was 12-12-6 since the coaching change.
Roy appears here to stay, and with that, he has to start bringing in the players he needs to fit his system. No longer will the Islanders be that timid bunch that sat back and watched Game 2 or the 24 previous third-period leads they held at some point this season get away from them.
To do that, money has to be freed up. Next year, the Islanders have an estimated $82.16 million on the books, leaving them with only $5.4 million in free space (h/t CapFriendly) under the NHL’s new $87.6 million salary cap for the 2024-25 campaign.
It immediately calls the futures of franchise staples Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, both of whom are free agents this summer, into question. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who makes $5 million annually until 2025-26, might crop back up on the trade-rumor mill as he had for the last two years.
Brock Nelson will be 33 at the start of the 2024-25 season and his value might never be higher coming off three straight 30-goal seasons. Kyle Palmieri’s stock bumped up this year, too, with his second-career 30-goal season. Those two combined are on the hook for $11 million next season. Captain Anders Lee is due $7 million in each of the next two years.
This is not to suggest a firesale is in the cards. The Islanders have far too many pieces to be the focal points of a perennial playoff team (Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Noah Dobson, and despite the struggles this year, Ilya Sorokin). But there will have to be some household names near the top of the second level of the franchise’s pantheon that might be shown the door.
It might be the shrewder side of sports, but that is what the Islanders need to do to take that next step from being a borderline, one-and-done team in the playoffs.
For more on the Islanders, visit AMNY.com
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