2014-15 New York Islanders Preview

Sep 30, 2014 - 7:14 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Islanders are counting down the days until they move to Brooklyn, but first the club hopes it can close out Nassau Coliseum on a high note.

The Islanders have called the Coliseum home since coming into existence as an NHL franchise in 1972, and the old barn has seen its share of ups and downs. The heyday, of course, was in the late 1970s and early '80s when New York raised Stanley Cup banners to the rafters in four consecutive season.

However, recent history hasn't been kind to either the Isles or the Coliseum. The building derisively known as "The Mausoleum" is the most maligned arena in major professional sports, and the team it houses is usually nothing to rave about either.

The hope is a bright new future awaits at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the Isles will begin play in 2015-16. But first the franchise would like to end its tenure on Long Island on a positive note before making the transition to New York City's outer boroughs.

Judging by the Isles' recent history, a trip to the playoffs would constitute a banner season. New York has made the postseason only once in the last seven seasons and the club hasn't won a playoff round since 1993.

Thanks to John Tavares, the Isles do have a superstar player to help them sell tickets in Brooklyn. Tavares should be eager to get back at it in 2014-15 after his season was cut short when he shredded his right knee playing for Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics.

A healthy Tavares is the main ingredient needed to get New York back to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and the star centerman should have more offensive help this season after general manager Garth Snow signed free agent forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin over the summer.

Snow also inked Jaroslav Halak to take over primary goaltending duties from Evgeni Nabokov, who left in the offseason to sign with Tampa Bay. The GM tried to lure even more talent to Long Island, but had contract offers turned down this summer by the likes of Dan Boyle, Jarome Iginla and Brad Richards.

Maybe when the Isles move into the gleaming Barclays Center they can convince more NHL players to join the fold. Showing the league they are a team clearly on the rise in the final season at the Coliseum also wouldn't hurt the cause.

FORWARDS - There's never a good time for your franchise player to suffer a season-ending injury, but at least Tavares went down during a year when the Isles were facing long odds to make the playoffs.

New York entered the Olympic break 14 points out of a postseason berth, so having a healthy Tavares for the stretch run wasn't going to make much of a difference.

Still, the Isles' 23-year-old captain was in the midst of a career season when he tore both his MCL and meniscus and that's saying something since Tavares was a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2013. Tavares had already compiled 66 points (24 goals, 42 assists) in 59 games when his campaign ended in Sochi and he wound up second on the team in scoring despite missing the final 22 tests of the season.

Kyle Okposo, who plays right wing on Tavares' line, ended the season as New York's top scorer with a career year of his own. Okposo set personal bests in both goals (27) and assists (42) as he notched 69 points in 71 games. The 26- year-old former was a first-round pick (7th overall) by New York in 2006 and the Isles hope Okposo's 2013-14 production is a sign of things to come.

Brock Nelson could get a shot to assume the other coveted wing spot alongside Tavares. Nelson, 22, turned some heads as a rookie last season with 14 goals and 12 assists over 72 games. Like Okposo, Nelson is a former first-round pick (30th overall in 2010) out of the state of Minnesota and his size (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) could be a valuable asset on the top line.

Grabovski and Kulemin both signed four-year deals to join the Isles on July 1 and the good friends expect to make up two-thirds of New York's second line. The duo skated together for several years with Toronto before Grabovski left to sign a one-year deal with Washington following the 2013 season.

After scoring 20 goals or more three times in five seasons with Toronto, Grabovski had a down season with the Capitals in 2013-14. The 30-year-old centerman was bothered by an ankle injury and ended the year with 13 goals and 22 assists over 58 games. Kulemin, meanwhile, had just nine goals and 11 assists in 70 games with Toronto, but the right winger did post 30 goals in 2010-11 when Grabovski was his linemate.

Snow is betting Grabovski and Kulemin, who combined to score 59 goals with Toronto in 2010-11, can recapture some of their old magic with the Isles.

Grabovski's arrival expects to move centerman Frans Nielsen down to the third line. Nielsen had 25 goals and 58 points for New York last season and he could wind up being one of the better third-line centers in the league in 2014-15.

Michael Grabner or Ryan Strome could wind up playing left wing on the second line. Strome, the fifth overall pick of the 2011 draft, is a natural centerman but New York's glut of talent down the middle may push him to wing on one of the top two lines.

Grabner is one of the fastest players in the league, but only had 12 goals and 14 assists in 64 games last season. It has been a struggle for the Austrian winger since he recorded 34 goals with the Isles in 2010-11, as he's seen his goal total drop with each successive year. Grabner had 20 goals in 2011-12 and 16 in the lockout-shortened season of 2013 before dipping to 12 tallies last year.

Isles head coach Jack Capuano has no shortage of talented forwards to work with this season, but the offensive depth could mean guys like Grabner, Josh Bailey, Matt Martin and Colin McDonald may not make the team out of training camp. Strome or fellow forward prospect Anders Lee also could be the odd-man out since neither player would need waivers to be sent down to the AHL.

With the abundance of young talent expected to play at the NHL level this season (not to mention the guys who are only a year or two away from joining the Isles) time may be running out for Bailey to prove himself worthy of a roster spot. The 24-year-old was the ninth overall pick by New York in 2008 but is coming off a season in which he only had nine goals to go with 30 assists. It was the highest point total of his career, but the Isles had to believe Bailey, who has six full NHL campaigns under his belt, would be further along in his development at this point.

DEFENSE - Snow and Capuano have some difficult choices to make up front, but they have the opposite problem on defense where there the talent level leaves much to be desired.

Travis Hamonic appears to be the best of the bunch and was the team's leader in ice time last year following the in-season trade of Andrew MacDonald to Philadelphia. Hamonic, 24, had three goals and 15 assists in 69 games and had a respectable plus-2 rating on a club which ranked 28th in the league in team defense.

Hamonic figures to join either veteran offensive blueliner Lubomir Visnovsky or youngster Calvin de Haan on the top pairing.

Concussions caused the 38-year-old Visnovsky play in only 24 games last season, but he managed to post 11 points (3G, 8A) in that limited run. The Czech veteran may not be the same player who had 18 goals and 68 points for Anaheim in 2010-11, but he's more than capable of being New York's top offensive weapon on the blue line.

The bulk of the remaining spots on D could go to players who were high draft picks but have little experience at the NHL level. De Haan, Thomas Hickey and Griffin Reinhart were all first-round draft selections, but Hickey leads the group with 121 NHL games under his belt. Reinhart, meanwhile, could make the team after spending last season in juniors with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Brian Strait, 26, and Matt Donovan, 24, also expect to be in the defensive rotation for Capuano.

GOALTENDING - New York's goaltending situation last season left a lot to be desired so it's not a surprise Snow went for a complete overhaul in the crease this summer.

Halak replaces Nabokov as the No. 1 option in net after he was traded twice last season. The 29-year-old backstop was dealt from St. Louis to Buffalo in the deal which sent Ryan Miller to the Blues, but Halak was then shipped to Washington before ever seeing action with the Sabres.

All told, Halak went 29-13-7 with a 2.25 goals against average and .921 save percentage with the Blues and Capitals last season. Halak's rights were traded to the Isles in May and the club committed to the goalie for four years and $18 million. It appears to be a good investment considering Halak boasts a 2.38 GAA and .918 save percentage over 272 career games.

Chad Johnson also was brought in this summer on a two-year, $2.6 million contract. The 28-year-old career backup went 17-4-3 with a 2.10 GAA while spelling Tuukka Rask in Boston last season.

Johnson's arrival means Kevin Poulin will likely begin the year with New York's AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The 24-year-old Poulin, a fifth-round pick in 2008, had a rough time with the Islanders last season, going 11-16-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .891 save percentage. Barring injuries to either Halak or Johnson, it would be better for everyone involved if Poulin was able to spend more time working on his craft at the AHL level.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - The Isles likely will be forced to compete for one of the Eastern Conference's two wild card spots this season, but New York will take a playoff appearance anyway it can get it. The impending move to Brooklyn is a reason to be excited and the club's emerging talent on offense could make the Islanders a rising team in the East this season. The days of raising Cup banners to the rafters may be a distant memory, but for the first time in a long time Isles fans have plenty of reasons to be hopeful for the future.