New York Islanders 2022-23 Season Recap
2023-08-19
During his first press conference as General Manager of the New York Islanders in January of 2022, Kyle Phillips talked a big game about the new standard he would set throughout the organization.
Gone were the days, he promised, of a low-profile franchise that occasionally scraped into the playoffs. The bar would be raised.
And to be sure, the new GM and his staff didn't lack for effort in following up on that promise, making a long string of splashy, win-now moves in their first year.
The result? A team that finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division, 18th in the league, and 3 points out of a playoff spot.
It was nothing short of a disaster, and though management and players earned credit for their public accountability, that didn't let them off the hook. Local fans and media had been patient through a trying season, but Year 2 would need to prove the master plan Phillips had promised wasn't scribbled on the back of a napkin.
Unfortunately, the stench of the 2021-22 campaign didn't evaporate the moment game 82 was in the books; having traded away eight 2022 draft picks in the seven months since he was hired, Phillips had left his scouting staff hobbled at the annual EHE Entry Draft. To be fair, he also acquired four '22 picks over the course of the year, and recouped two more in a draft-day deal with the Ottawa Senators. Nevertheless, the final tally of three selections in the 5th round didn't exactly give Islanders fans much to get excited about.
A series of offseason trades would more than make up for the lack of sizzle at the draft table, however, beginning with long-time Islander Travis Konecny getting shipped to St. Louis for prospect Francesco Pinelli and two picks.
Two November blockbusters further altered the face of the team, with star winger William Nylander sent to Nashville in exchange for Tomas Hertl, and Nick Suzuki dealt to Tampa Bay just three days later for young power forward Andrei Svechnikov.
Taken together, the intent of these deals was clear: Islanders management and coaching wanted a team that was harder to play against.
That point was further driven home a few weeks later with the trade of TJ Oshie (and his $6.5 million salary) to the Oilers for checking forward Nick Foligno and a draft pick, while free agency saw the Isles retain gritty defenseman Ryan McDonagh and sign human sandpaper Wayne Simmonds to a generous 4-year deal.
When the dust finally settled, the Islanders were bigger and stronger on paper, but still boasted plenty of skill. The question was whether the roster overhaul would add up to more success when the puck finally dropped on the 2022-23 season.
Seemingly determined to prove that things would be different this time around, the new-look Islanders stormed out of the gate with a 7-1-1 record in what was essentially an inversion of the 2-7-0 start that had torpedoed their previous campaign. And though they would cool off somewhat over the next few weeks, a 24-12-5 record through 41 games put Head Coach Mike Sullivan's crew on solid ground, sitting 3rd in the Metropolitan division with a firm grasp on a playoff spot.
Indeed, the Islanders had proven to be one of the league's most explosive offensive units in the first half—star forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mitch Marner had rebounded to produce like the franchise players they were supposed to be, and the big offseason additions were fitting in well, with Hertl in the midst of what would become a 40-goal, 90-point season and Svechnikov likewise scoring at a 40-goal clip.
Meanwhile, Phillips had swapped depth players Matt Roy, Rasmus Asplund, and Anton Khudobin for cheaper options to shave $2 million from the team's cap number, then turned around and used that space to land starting netminder Darcy Kuemper from Chicago to share the crease with a struggling Sergei Bobrovsky.
And yet, there still seemed to be something lacking. Despite their offensive prowess and the presence of two number one goalies on the roster, the team's goal differential sat at a modest +8. And for all the defensively responsible veterans dotting the roster—Foligno, McDonagh, Nick Paul, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Vladislav Gavrikov among them—the Isles' penalty kill remained stuck in the bottom 5 of the league.
In other words, there was still plenty of room for improvement.
With his team playing well midway through the season yet clearly in need of a spark, Phillips once again dipped into the trade market, acquiring EHE all-time leading scorer Patrice Bergeron from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Foligno, prospect Dmitri Kuzmin, and two draft picks.
It was perhaps Phillips's biggest splash yet, and the impact was immediate: in his debut in blue and orange Bergeron posted a goal and an assist while helping the penalty kill to a 4-for-5 performance, kicking off a six-week run of 86% efficiency. The Isles also instantly caught fire in the win column, ripping off a 17-2-0 run (including an 11-game win streak) in which they outscored their opponents by a whopping 41 goals (84GF, 43GA).
Suddenly firing on all cylinders, and with a quarter of the season left, the Isles were finally living up to their own lofty expectations, and had their sights set on not just a playoff spot, but a division title and possibly even the President's Trophy. Such ambitions were only bolstered by the trade deadline acquisition of top-six scoring winger Brayden Schenn.
The good times wouldn't last, however, as Bergeron suffered a leg injury that would put him on the shelf for the final two weeks of the regular season—and much more importantly, the entire first round of the playoffs.
To their credit, the Islanders finished out the schedule with a 4-2-0 record minus their star center. But there were signs of trouble, such as the 24 goals surrendered, including a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the last-place Carolina Hurricanes. Indeed, the Isles faded just enough down the stretch to allow the New Jersey Devils to leapfrog them for first place in both the division and the league. And while a second-place finish in the cutthroat Metro represented an impressive result after 82 games, it also meant a first-round matchup with the powerhouse Philadelphia Flyers.
Despite a disappointing end to the regular season, there was plenty of excitement on Long Island for the return of postseason hockey. Unfortunately, the Isles had drawn maybe the toughest first-round matchup in the league, with the Flyers just two years removed from their first Stanley Cup championship and averaging 49 wins and 106 points over the previous three seasons.
A 7-1 trouncing by the Islanders to kick off the series seemed like a great sign, led by an outrageous 6-point performance by centerman Joel Eriksson Ek. But in Game 2 the boys from Broad Street answered with a 6-2 thrashing of their own, followed by a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3.
The Isles would fight back to tie the series with a gritty 2-1 win in Game 4, and all signs pointed to a 7-game classic. But New York's first line was wilting under pressure (the Svechnikov-Hertl-MacKinnon trio would combine for 2 goals and a -16 rating in the series), the penalty kill was once again floundering (70% through four games), and the whole group was clearly missing Bergeron's two-way impact and veteran presence.
In the end these struggles were too much to overcome, and the Flyers would cruise to consecutive 5-3 victories, bringing the Islanders' postseason run to an end after just six games.
Ultimately, the 2022-23 season was a bittersweet affair for the New York Islanders.
On the one hand, the club set a number of single-season franchise records, including wins (54) and points (114), while also becoming just the fifth team in EHE history to surpass 300 goals. Finishing second in the league standings also far outstripped their previous best of 11th overall.
But on the other hand, bad luck, underperforming star players, and a lacklustre playoff run all amounted to a stark bottom line: no banners being raised at UBS Arena.
And so, the organization, their fans, and General Manager Kyle Phillips himself find themselves in much the same place they were just 12 months ago: wondering how a team with so much talent could fall so far short of their Stanley Cup aspirations.
To be sure, a record-setting regular season must be seen as a step toward the new standard that was promised.
But after yet another year that ended disappointingly early, playoff success is now the only thing that can truly raise the bar on the Island.
Fantastic write-up! Too bad the injury bug bit so hard. Hopefully, next year you see even more success.
New York Islanders 2022-23 Season Recap
Great recap my friend. You had a championship-caliber team, regardless of the outcome. You played in a tough division (or even conference) and finished 2nd overall. The result against Philly is a tough pill to swallow, but on the bright side, you still have a shot for the big cup next year. Cheers
New York Islanders 2022-23 Season Recap