New York Islanders 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

New York Islanders 2017 Season Preview

John Tavares enters a contract year. The first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft needs a huge year for a big payday. Any team would love to have his play.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/9/2016.

New York Islanders Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Anders Lee	Left Wing	81	6-foot-3-inches	228-pounds	34	18	52
John Tavares	Center	77	6-foot-1-inches	205-pounds	28	38	66
Jordan Eberle	Right Wing	82	5-foot-11-inches	184-pounds	20	31	51

New York Islanders Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Andrew Ladd	Left Wing	78	6-foot-3-inches	200-pounds	23	8	31
Brock Nelson	Center	81	6-foot-3-inches	206-pounds	20	25	45
Josh Bailey	Right Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	210-pounds	13	43	56

New York Islanders Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Anthony Beauvillier	Left Wing	66	5-foot-11-inches	170-pounds	9	15	24
Casey Cizikas	Center	59	5-foot-11-inches	201-pounds	8	17	25
Joshua Ho-Sang	Right Wing	21	6-foot-0-inches	173-pounds	4	6	10

New York Islanders Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Nikolay Kulemin	Left Wing	72	6-foot-1-inches	225-pounds	12	11	23
Alan Quine	Center	61	6-foot-0-inches	200-pounds	5	13	18
Cal Clutterbuck	Right Wing	66	5-foot-11-inches	206-pounds	5	15	20

New York Islanders Forwards Review: New York has four lines of forwards on offense with 12 skaters that posted a minimum of 10 points. These forwards have a chance to put something special together. With the depth the Islanders have at left wing, center, and right wing, I could see them finishing top 10 in both goals scored and power play.

The Islanders rank 10th in goals scored and 28th on the power play. The New York Islanders have too much talent this year to be a bottom five team on the power play. That has to change in 2017-2018 if the Islanders want to be a playoff team.

New York Islanders Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Johnny Boychuck	Line 1	72	6-foot-2-inches	227-pounds	6	17	23
Nick Leddy	Line 1	81	6-foot-0-inches	199-pounds	11	35	46
Calvin De Haan	Line 2	82	6-foot-1-inches	187-pounds	5	20	25
Dennis Seidenberg	Line 2	73	6-foot-0-inches	198-pounds	5	17	22
Thomas Hickey	Line 3	76	6-foot-0-inches	189-pounds	4	16	20
Adam Pelech	Line 3	44	6-foot-3-inches	210-pounds	3	7	10

New York Islanders Defensemen Review The New York Islanders look like they could be a decent defense. I love the depth the Islanders' have on the blue line. This depth helped them beat the Florida Panthers two years ago. The Islanders need to play a lot more consistent this season in order to be a playoff team.

The Islanders got Boychuck as the only legit defensive defender. The rest of these defensemen are offensive defensemen who focus on setting things up on the power play. That is why this defense can be good at times, and dreadful at other times. How the Islanders' defense performs will be key.

The Islaanders 23rd in goals allowed and 11th in penalty killing in 2016-2017. The Islanders can be a top 20 team in both goals allowed and penalty killing. They need to be top 15 in those categories to be a playoff team.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Thomas Greiss	New York Islanders	49	26-18-5	3 Shutouts	.913	2.69 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Jaroslav Halak	New York Islanders	26	12-9-5	2 Shutouts	.915	2.80 GAA

New York Islanders Goaltender Review New York has two average goalies in Greiss and Halak. I feel like the Islanders need to draft a goalie to develop for the future. Connor Ingram may be the answer down the road.

New York Islanders Prospect Pool: New York's last three first round prospects look like future stars in the NHL. Defenseman Ryan Pulock was drafted fifteenth overall back in 2013, left winger Michael Dal Colle was selected fifth overall by the Islanders in 2014, and in 2015, the Islanders traded Griffin Reinhart to the Edmonton Oilers for the 16th and 33rd picks. New York took center Matthew Barzal with Edmonton's second first round pick that originally belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New York Islanders 2017-2018 Prediction

The Islanders lack the goalie to get back to the playoffs. I don't trust either one of their goalies and I see them falling short of a playoff appearance once again missing out.