New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are playing the Mega Millions lottery to do something good for their fans, employees and charity organizations.

Per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, the Islanders spent $50,000 on 25,000 Mega Millions tickets for Friday's drawing.

If the team hits the jackpot, it will split the net winnings between full-season ticket members, suite holders, staff and Islanders Children’s Foundation charity.

Wyshynski also noted if the total winnings for the Isles come to less than $250,000, the entire amount will be donated to the team's Children's Foundation.

Friday's drawing is up to $1.28 billion, the third-largest in lottery history. The biggest jackpot ever was a $1.586 billion in the Powerball that was split by three different winners in January 2016.

This will mark the second time in Mega Millions history with a $1 billion jackpot. The first was a $1.537 billion pot that was won by a player in South Carolina in October 2018. It's the largest lottery prize ever won on a single ticket.

Per CNN's Paul P. Murphy, the cash value option is $742.2 million if there is a winner.

If you happen to win the Mega Millions and take the cash value option, you could theoretically purchase an NHL franchise.

Per a December 2021 piece from Mike Ozanian of Forbes, there are 17 clubs valued at less than $742.2 million. If you wanted to try finding another investor who can chip in some additional money, you can add the New Jersey Devils ($775 million valuation) to the list.

No one has won a Mega Millions jackpot since April 15, a streak of 29 draws. Per the Mega Millions' release, nine tickets did match all five white balls from Tuesday's drawing. One of those winners received $3 million because it included the megaplier. The remaining eight winners collected $1 million each.

We're nearly two weeks into NHL free agency, and yet, standout center Nazem Kadri somehow remains unsigned.

The fact that Nadri is still available is surprising. He's coming off a tremendous 71-game, 87-point (28 goals) season and just won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. At 31, Kadri may be nearing the end of his playing prime, but he's still a high-level player.

According to the latest free agency buzz, the New York Islanders may be interested in scooping up Kadri in an effort to bolster their offense.

"One league source told The Athletic via text message Friday that he had 'heard rumblings' that the Islanders were making a push for Kadri," The Athletic's Kevin Kurz wrote.

There are reasons to believe this one. The Islanders have been painfully quiet this offseason and don't appear, on paper, much better than they were during last year's 37-win campaign.

New York tried and failed to make a push for Johnny Gaudreau before he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Aside from acquiring Alexander Romanov during the draft, New York has failed to make a splash.

New York's interest in Gaudreau suggests that the Islanders are willing to go big-name, and they still have the sixth-most cap space in the league.

Nadri also has a bit of an Islanders connection, as general manager Lou Lamoriello was with the Toronto Maple Leafs toward the end of Kadri's time with the franchise.

Should Lamoriello bring in Kadri, it would add excitement to what has been a stale offseason and improve New York's prowess on the offensive end. The question is whether the Islanders could find a fit for Kadri when they already have a solid center rotation.

Brock Nelson, who had 37 goals last season, is a star. Mathew Barzal is an up-and-coming talent who accrued 44 assists in 2021. The Islanders also have J.G. Pageau, a capable player and a fine third-liner.

However, New York could tinker with the lineup by moving Barzal or Nelson to wing to accommodate Kadri. As Kurz pointed out, having the left-handed Kadri could make for a potent face-off lineup.

One unnamed NHL scout, though, told Kurz that moving Nelson to wing would make more sense, as he is a better shooter. This would likely mean bumping Josh Bailey down the depth chart.

Perhaps a mix of position shuffling would work, though Kadri is best suited to stay at center. It would take some experimentation, but it would give New York the potential to put more points on the board while still leaning on its stout defense.

The Islanders allowed the seventh-fewest (tied) goals this past season.

The other factor to consider here is that while New York is currently deep at center, it may not stay that way. Barzal will be a restricted free agent next offseason. There's no guarantee that the Canadian-born Barzal—who played his WHL hockey in Seattle—wants to stick around.

Signing Kadri would be a gamble, but at this point, the Islanders are running out of free-agent options. Kadri is younger than potential alternatives like Phil Kessel (34) and Paul Stastny (36) and would be more logical for anything other than a short-term rental.

And perhaps a short-term rental is where the Islanders end up. Of course, that would put them right back in the same spot next offseason.

If New York believes it can find success by sliding Nelson and/or Barzal to win, it should make a strong push to sign Kadri sooner than later. While he's available now, he isn't likely to remain so for much longer.

The New York Islanders announced they have hired Lane Lambert as their next head coach.

Lambert served as the Islanders' associate coach from 2018-2022 under Barry Trotz, who was fired on May 9.

Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello provided comments in a team statement.

"I had the opportunity to work with Lane over the past four years, which includes spending time with him on a one-on-one basis when he served as the interim Head Coach this past season," Lamoriello said. "In my opinion, he is the right person to coach this team."

The 57-year-old played 18 years of professional hockey from 1983-2001, including seven NHL campaigns with the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques.

He also served as an assistant under Trotz with the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals.

Lambert served as an assistant on the Capitals' 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team, which came at the conclusion of his 2014-18 tenure with the team. He worked as a Nashville Predators assistant from 2011-2013.

Between his playing career and NHL coaching career, Lambert was the head coach of the Western Hockey League's Prince George Cougars (2003-05) and an assistant for the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers (2005-06).

He then moved to the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals, working as an assistant (2006-07) and then a head coach (2007-2011), winning a pair of Western Division titles.

Now he'll get his first crack at being an NHL head coach.

The Islanders made the playoffs for three straight seasons under Trotz and were one win away from qualifying for the Stanley Cup Final last year. This season was a disappointment in comparison, as the Islanders finished 37-35-10—16 points short of the playoffs.

The Isles certainly have the talent to bounce back. The question now is whether Lambert can help steer the team back to the postseason. He has a track record of success as a coach, and 18 years as a professional hockey player certainly provide some good perspective. The Eastern Conference is a brutally tough league, but Lambert could very well be up to the task.

New York Islanders team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello might have shocked the hockey world Monday morning when he unceremoniously fired coach Barry Trotz, but those who have followed his career will tell you the move was par for the course for the 79-year-old Hall of Fame executive.

Lamoriello is known as an iron-fisted, tight-lipped executive who views coaches as expendable. He fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the regular season when the New Jersey Devils were leading the Eastern Conference standings.

Often compared to George Steinbrenner and sometimes called the "Baby Boss" by the local media, Lamoriello made 20 coaching moves during his tenure as the president and general manager of the Devils.

Trotz won the Jack Adams Award in 2019 and took the Islanders to back-to-back conference final/semifinal rounds in 2020 and 2021, losing to the eventual champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, both years.

Keep in mind that this was mostly accomplished with players acquired by former general manager Garth Snow.

But Lou is back to his old ways.

"This would be a tremendous understatement to say that it was an easy decision to make, but unfortunately, it's my role to make the best decisions for the organization going forward," Lamoriello said on a conference call shortly after announcing the decision. "I believe that this group of players needs a new voice."

As for what that new voice needs to sound like, Lamoriello isn't sure yet. He offered no specifics other than to say he was unhappy with the offensive production and that the decision was not made primarily on this season.

Lamoriello said he does not need to report to anyone except for owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin.

"Did I consult with anyone on this decision, the answer is no. Did I speak to players on this decision? No. I would never even consider thinking of anything like that," he said. "This decision is on the knowledge that I have, of the experiences I've had, and going forward, what I think and feel is best for this group to have success."

But here's where he got it wrong: While this kind of thinking might have worked in the 1990s and the early aughts in New Jersey, it doesn't work in 2022. This is a team devoid of a true star because Trotz's vaunted defensive system is the star.

Lamoriello's philosophy that players should play for the name on the front of the jersey and not on the back, regardless of the cameras, media outlets and social media platforms is quaint but outdated.

Another team is going to get a very good coach in Trotz. Let's take a look at where he could land.

---

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit seems like an obvious destination for Trotz, considering this is an up-and-coming team with high-end young talent that needs a coach to help them put it all together.

Jeff Blashill was recently fired after losing seasons in six of the last seven campaigns, though you could make the argument that he never really had a chance given how long this rebuild has taken.

However, you need to look at the general manager's history of coaching hires to try to connect the dots. Steve Yzerman has hired two head coaches as an executive, both in Tampa: Guy Boucher and Jon Cooper. Both were relatively young and relatively new to NHL coaching.

Boucher came to the NHL from the AHL and, as a rookie head coach, led the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final. He bridged the gap for Cooper, who was the club's AHL coach. Cooper played lacrosse in college and was a practicing lawyer before moving into coaching.

Yzerman has an eye for coaching talent, so while this might seem like an obvious move on paper when you look at the hiring patterns, it suddenly doesn't feel like one anymore.

---

Philadelphia Flyers

General manager Chuck Fletcher is hanging on to his job by a thread. He hired coach Alain Vigneault prior to the 2019-20 season and fired him this season, replacing him with assistant coach Mike Yeo. The club recently announced that they are moving on from Yeo, though they would like to keep him in the organization.

The Flyers are in a weird spot. They dealt veteran captain Claude Giroux at the trade deadline a few months ago and have significant money committed to some veterans on the roster, with new deals kicking in for Joel Farabee and Rasmus Ristolainen next season.

The young players are struggling to develop, but that's not uncommon in a losing season.

The defensive structure was an Achilles' heel for Philadelphia last season, as the Flyers allowed the fourth-most shot attempts at five-on-five and the eighth-most scoring chances. Trotz's calling card is his defensive system.

Plus, the club has long struggled to develop goaltending talent. Bleeding chances like that would be a challenge for even the best goalies in the world, but a better defensive setup and Trotz's renowned goaltending coach Mitch Korn could help Carter Hart finally become a franchise backstop.

---

New Jersey Devils

General manager Tom Fitzgerald has made one NHL coaching hire since taking over for Ray Shero early in 2020, going with veteran Lindy Ruff.

He recently threw his support behind his head coach after yet another dismal season, but could the availability of Trotz change his mind? Fitzgerald has some familiarity with Trotz, having played for him in Nashville.

The Devils were mediore at best scoring goals last season, a problem further exacerbated by injuries, poor goaltending and a disastrous power play.

It's unclear whether the club is content with goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, but bringing in Trotz to fix the defense and Korn to aid in the goaltending (assuming they are still a package deal) could help the club finally take a step toward a return to prominence.

---

Vancouver Canucks

Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have a June 1 deadline to decide whether to pick up Bruce Boudreau's option year. Boudreau replaced Travis Green for the final 57 games of the season, and the Canucks pushed for a playoff spot, but that might not be enough of a sample size to retain the affable Boudreau.

Rutherford seems on the fence, saying he might need to see how Boudreau does over a full season.

One thing to keep in mind here is that Boudreau was hired by owner Francesco Aquilini before he fired general manager Jim Benning and brought in Rutherford and Allvin. The former Pittsburgh Penguins front office duo might want to put their own stamp on the organization with their own coach.

---

Vegas Golden Knights

What will the Golden Knights do with Peter DeBoer after the club's failure to make the playoffs? Former Caps GM George McPhee is in Vegas as the president of hockey operations—Trotz and McPhee previously worked together in the Washington Capitals organization when Trotz was the AHL coach (Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates) in the 1990s.

DeBoer might be a very respected coach, but he has a reputation for wearing out his welcome. He hasn't been in Vegas for very long, but the decision-making group there has proved to be somewhat impulsive.

DeBoer's timing hasn't been great as he was in New Jersey during the start of their rebuild and in San Jose as the roster began to age. He took both of those teams to Stanley Cup Finals, but the difference is that Trotz won it all while DeBoer has yet to reach that peak.

The Golden Knights are in win-now mode with significant money committed to players 30 and over. Trotz is a win-now coach.

---

San Jose Sharks

Bob Boughner is in a similar spot to his predecessor in that his job status seems to be tenuous.

Longtime general manager Doug Wilson recently stepped down citing health issues and Sharks president Jonathan Becher and interim general manager Joe Will are conducting a search for his replacement.

A coach is rarely hired before a general manager, but stranger things have happened (see the above on Boudreau). It's more likely the Sharks will let a new GM conduct his own coaching search, but if Trotz is still available when a new executive is hired, then he could be an attractive option.

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Winnipeg Jets

This feels like the most natural fit. Trotz is a Manitoba native, and he played and coached at the University of Manitoba, as well as with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Former head coach Paul Maurice resigned earlier this season, and under interim coach Dave Lowry, the Jets failed to reach the postseason. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Lowry can interview for the full-time job, but it sounds as though the club will move on from him.

This is a team in dire need of a reset. Maurice never could take the Jets deep into the postseason, and the roster is flawed. It seemed as though the message grew stale.

Trotz has long been lauded for understanding how to keep his message fresh. The 59-year-old is a proven winner, and as a proud Manitoban, he would bring some much-needed excitement back to the fanbase.

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Where do the Islanders go next?

When Trotz left Washington, he was replaced by assistant coach Todd Reirden. The Islanders could choose to go in a similar direction with Lane Lambert, Trotz's longtime right-hand man. Lambert has long been viewed as an up-and-coming coach, and some have wondered why he doesn't already have a head-coaching job.

Lambert, as well as the rest of the staff, is still under contract with the club, but Lamoriello said the new coach will get the final say on personnel. Lambert should be an option, but his time with Trotz dates back a decade to the Nashville Predators. Reirden didn't quite have the history that Lambert has.

One name to keep an eye on is Mike Babcock. This would be questionable given the allegations of abuse toward players that emerged after Babcock was fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello worked with Babcock in Toronto, though, and he has gone back to the same coaching well on a few occasions (Jacques Lemaire, anyone?), so there is a familiarity.

The New York Islanders announced Monday they have fired head coach Barry Trotz.

New York finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 84 points. The Islanders saw their points percentage fall from .634 in 2020-21 to .512 in 2021-22 as they missed the postseason for the first time since 2018.

"It's my role to make the best decision for the organization going forward and I believe this group of players needs a new voice, it's in no way negative on Barry Trotz," general manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters of the decision.

Lamoriello alluded to other factors at play without providing specifics:

Lamoriello says this is a "business decision" in relation to winning and hockey.

— Kevin Maher (@KMaherNews12) May 9, 2022

Lamoriello: "This decision wasn't just primarily made on just this season." #Isles

— Joe Pantorno (@JoePantorno) May 9, 2022

Absent more context, the move is puzzling.

Trotz made an immediate impact with the franchise, having taken the job in 2018-19 on the heels of his Stanley Cup triumph with the Washington Capitals. 

The Islanders reached the Eastern Conference Finals in his second season, where they lost to the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. The next year, they were in the semifinals again, where the Lightning again got the better of them en route to the Stanley Cup.

It seems like only yesterday Trotz, a Stanley Cup winning coach, was leading the Islanders on a franchise resurrection and a Conference Finals appearance. That was also only two years ago, literally speaking. https://t.co/E8ubRWMsKY

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) May 9, 2022

New York fell short of expectations this year. Bleacher Report's Lyle Fitzsimmons ranked the team seventh in the league as training camp was getting underway.

But the Islanders had to deal with a 13-game road trip to open the year and experienced a COVID-19 outbreak midway through. Placing all the blame on Trotz for a 37-35-10 record would be unfair.

The Islanders reached the doorstep of the Stanley Cup Final under Barry Trotz, but fell flat this year when a Cup was the expectation. The 13-game road trip, Covid outbreaks, not enough scoring - a lot of factors. https://t.co/sdnEEH5WcW

— John Chandler (@JohnChandlerNBC) May 9, 2022

Now that he's on the open market, the 59-year-old figures to be in high demand.

Barry Trotz if you come coach the Flyers I will personally take you house shopping in Voorhees

— Michael Baumann (@MichaelBaumann) May 9, 2022

What a bunch of dumb idiots the #Isles are.

I would hire Barry Trotz RIGHT NOW if I were the #NJDevils. They would run such a great system that shuts down opponents while guys like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier can still be creative offensively.

Wow.

— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) May 9, 2022

Barry Trotz turned the worst defensive team in the league into a top-5 defensive team in the league in his first year with the Islanders. Gotta think he rockets to the top of the Blackhawks' wish list, unless, of course, tanking next season is on the table (which it might be!).

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) May 9, 2022

In New York, the pressure is squarely on Lamoriello. Beyond firing Trotz, he has invested heavily in the current roster, leaving the front office with limited flexibility.

Absent a way to make a meaningful upgrade to the squad, a coaching change is one way to shake things up. But for many fans, that's unlikely to justify moving on from somebody who delivered the success Trotz did.

Zdeno Chara stands alone atop the NHL's career list for most regular-season games played by a defenseman after taking the ice for the New York Islanders against the host San Jose Sharks on Thursday evening.

With tonight’s game in San Jose, Chara has played in 1️⃣6️⃣5️⃣2️⃣ games, the most games played by a defenseman in the NHL.

Congrats Chara! 👏 pic.twitter.com/T7oMcxG1Ya

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) February 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/NYIslanders/status/1497055787402903558

The San Jose Sharks acknowledge Chara's most games played by a defenseman record and Patrick Marleau shares his congratulations pic.twitter.com/cEt6mglycJ

— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) February 25, 2022

Congratulations Zdeno Chara for setting the NHL record for the most games played by a defenseman! 👏

Truly a remarkable achievement and a testament to your dedication to the game. pic.twitter.com/P5yc7bbhI3

— NHL (@NHL) February 25, 2022

A big night for Big Zee.

Congratulations, Zdeno, on this incredible achievement. 👏 pic.twitter.com/TdyLOIAv5G

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 25, 2022

Unmatched dedication, perseverance, and competitiveness.

Well done, Big Zee! Enjoy your special night. pic.twitter.com/GagP7fyDf9

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 25, 2022

299 of 1,652 with the #Sens.
 
The record for the most games played in NHL history by a defenceman belongs to Big Z! 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/xcCmhTPojT

— X - Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 25, 2022

Chara entered the night tied for eighth overall and first among defensemen in games played with Hall of Famer Chris Chelios. He moved into seventh after taking the ice for the 1,652nd time.

The 44-year-old made his NHL debut with the 1997-98 Isles. He was with New York for four seasons and the Ottawa Senators for four more before signing a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the Boston Bruins.

Chara became one of the franchise's best defensemen, a storied list that includes Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Eddie Shore and Brad Park. 

He is a seven-time All-Star who won the Norris Trophy as a member of the 2008-09 Bruins. He also won the Stanley Cup with the B's in 2011, when he earned the Mark Messier Leadership Award.

Chara's Bruins career ended after the 2019-20 season. He spent one year with the Washington Capitals before seeing his career go full circle with a return trip to the Islanders.

The Slovakian has registered 207 goals, 467 assists and 674 points for his career. He's also played in 200 playoff games and amassed 18 goals and 51 assists (69 points).

A place in the Hockey Hall of Fame awaits Chara, but for now, he is playing out his 24th NHL season.

The New York Islanders announced Friday that legendary forward and Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies died at the age of 67. 

Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello released the following statement:

The entire Islanders community is devastated by the loss of Clark Gillies. He epitomized what it means to be a New York Islander. The pride he felt wearing the Islanders sweater on the ice was evident by his willingness to do anything to win. Off the ice, he was just as big of a presence, always taking the time to give back to the local community. The New York Islanders have four Stanley Cups because of the sacrifices he and the members of those dynasty teams made for the franchise. On behalf of the entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to the entire Gillies family.

Statement from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on the passing of Hockey Hall of Fame member Clark Gillies. pic.twitter.com/K7PbmRiv56

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) January 22, 2022

Gillies spent 12 of his 14 NHL seasons with the Islanders, playing on the squad from 1974 to 1986. The organization selected him fourth overall in the 1974 NHL draft. 

The left winger appeared in 872 games for the Islanders (fifth in franchise history), tallying 304 goals (fourth in franchise history) and 359 assists for 663 points (fourth in franchise history). He also played in 159 playoff games, notching 47 goals and 46 assists for 93 points, helping the Islanders win four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83.

Gillies spent the final two seasons of his career with the Buffalo Sabres, tallying 15 goals and 19 assists in for 34 points in 86 games from 1986-88. 

The Islanders retired Gillies' No. 9 in 1996, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.  

American Thanksgiving has passed, which means hockey fans are free to look at the standings.

The holiday serves as a benchmark that signals the unofficial start of playoff races. With two months of play complete and teams hitting the 20-game mark, we have an idea of team identities, strengths and areas that will be targeted as we approach the March 21 trade deadline.

We can start to determine which teams have chances and which teams do not.

But that isn't easy in the Metropolitan Division. The last-place team, the New York Islanders, was a game away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season. Metro teams hold the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, and two others are within four points. The Washington Capitals lead the NHL with 33 points, and the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers sit right behind them. It is an incredibly tight division.

No offense to the Atlantic Division, but if the Boston Bruins have any shot of making the playoffs, they will likely need to bump the Florida Panthers, the Toronto Maple Leafs or the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning out of a playoff spot in their division. The Bruins could still bring back free-agent goalie Tuukka Rask and make a run, but with so many good teams in the Metro Division, it's an uphill battle for everyone in the Eastern Conference. 

Each team in this division started the season with playoff hopes, except for maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets. But Columbus has improved quickly, which has made for a crowded division. It's difficult to handicap this race because so much of the season is left and things like injuries will factor into performances, so we'll look at each team and determine whether its playoff hopes are legitimate or not.

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The teams at the top

Let's start with the three best. Carolina, Washington and the Rangers are pulling away from the rest of the division.

Alexander Ovechkin looks ageless with 19 goals. The captain netted a hat trick Friday against the Panthers, and while that might be standard for Ovi, it's not every day you see a 36-year-old score at that pace.

He's putting up 1.68 points per game, which ranks third in the NHL, and has recaptured some magic with Evgeny Kuznetsov. A reinvigorated Kuznetsov is important—for himself, considering the Caps looked into offloading him over the summer, but especially for the depleted lineup.

T.J. Oshie is out with a foot injury, Anthony Mantha is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury, Lars Eller has been in COVID-19 protocol since Nov. 16, Nicklas Backstrom started the season on injured reserve after offseason hip surgery, and Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz are both day-to-day.

The subplot is Ovechkin's chase to match Wayne Gretzky's all-time scoring record. He needs 145 to match the Great One's record of 894 goals, and with the way he's playing, he could knock off 30 more this season.

Carolina is one of the best possession teams in the league in 5-on-5. This has been the Hurricanes' calling card for a few years. It's a straightforward approach: Shoot the puck. A lot. The best defense in today's NHL is offense.

Buoyed by elite shooters like Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho, Carolina started the season winning nine straight. A plus-23 goal differential suggests these numbers are sustainable, and this has been an elite team for years.

Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta might not be an elite goaltending tandem, but Andersen is having a bounce-back season. Until he slips, the doubters can remain quiet. 

The Rangers have been among the worst teams in the league at 5-on-5. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, their 45.19 Corsi percentage is the lowest in the NHL. The bulk of their offense has come from Chris Kreider (15 goals). Only 37 of the team's 59 goals have been scored at even strength. But they're defending well and have had elite goaltending from Igor Shesterkin. 

The Rangers have made it known they would like to take the next step in their rebuild and make the playoffs. This could be the year, and it should with the high-end talent they possess, but they might be on the bubble with other teams on their heels.

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The teams in the middle

A cluster of teams is within a few points of one another. The Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins each have 24 points. The New Jersey Devils have 22, and the Philadelphia Flyers have 20. The Blue Jackets and Devils are on the upswing, and the Flyers and Penguins appear to be hanging on, trying to stave off rebuilds. 

The Penguins are sticking around in the standings because of goalie Tristan Jarry. Last year, some blamed Jarry for Pittsburgh's lack of success. The club cleared the path for Jarry by parting ways with Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray, and many wondered if that was the right move, especially as Fleury played Vezina-caliber hockey in Las Vegas. 

Some of the criticism was valid, but Jarry is proving to be the No. 1 goalie the club envisioned he would be. 

After shutting out the Islanders on Friday, Jarry's .936 save percentage is tied for third in the league, and his mark of 9.63 goals saved above average is the third-best. His performance has been crucial considering the Penguins went without Sidney Crosby to start the season and Evgeni Malkin is still on IR. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wPZz2_Rlr4

The Devils and the Blue Jackets have a road map in place. They know where they want to go, and they're attempting to get there through talent development. New Jersey is seeing good results as players like Dawson Mercer and Yegor Sharangovich play big roles. When the Devils finally get Jack Hughes healthy again, they could be dangerous. 

But the Flyers are in a tough spot. They have lost six straight, and the season appears to be falling apart. The lack of roster depth has been exposed as injuries to key players like Ryan Ellis have piled up. Philadelphia is in a precarious spot and may need to blow it up and start trying to retain assets. It's right up against the salary cap, so it's tough for general manager Chuck Fletcher to make any moves that might improve the team in the short term.

The one good thing the Flyers have going for them is their draft capital. They have all but one pick each of the next two years. It's time for them to get younger, and they can do that with high picks and prospects. It might not be a palatable move, but Claude Giroux is in the final year of his contract, so trading the captain at the deadline might be a painful but necessary move.

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The Islanders

What to make of the Islanders? Many (myself included) picked them to win the division. The team seemed poised for another long playoff run. A new arena. A top coach. This was supposed to be the year it came together.

It still could be. We know the Islanders are capable of reeling off five, six, seven or even eight wins at a time. Instead, they've lost eight straight. They're 5-10-2 with only 12 points.

How can a Stanley Cup contender be this bad?

You could start with COVID-19. The Isles have eight players in COVID protocol, and their next two games are postponed. The league was late on postponing games, forcing them to play with as many as seven players in protocol.

Plus, they're without defenseman Ryan Pulock because of injury, and Brock Nelson is hurt too. 

It's still early, but is it getting late early for the Islanders? This team has proved doubters wrong many times in the past. Barry Trotz and his system are never really out of the game. But with the division this competitive, one of the Eastern Conference favorites could be left out this spring.

The NHL has postponed all New York Islanders games through at least Nov. 30 under its COVID-19 protocols. 

Per an announcement from the league, the Islanders currently have up to eight players unavailable to play after another player entered protocol on Saturday:

SCHEDULE UPDATE: @NYIslanders games postponed at least through Nov. 30. https://t.co/DQdxsvMCm6 pic.twitter.com/pXs2Vej1Ln

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) November 27, 2021

Josh Bailey returned to the ice for practice on Friday after being quarantined, but he didn't play against the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Bailey, Adam Pelech, Andy Greene, Anthony Beauvillier, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston are the New York players who were already in COVID protocols before Chara. 

The NHL's announcement means that at least Sunday's game against the New York Rangers and Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers have been postponed. 

No makeup dates for those games has been announced at this point. 

New York's next game on the schedule is against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 2 at UBS Arena. 

The Islanders have lost eight consecutive games with a shorthanded roster amid their ongoing COVID-19 issues. They are 5-10-2 overall and have the joint-second-fewest points (12) of any team in the Eastern Conference.   

Michael McNiff, a bar owner and resident of Wantagh, New York, on Long Island, was getting ready to go to a New York Islanders game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum about 10 or so years ago, maybe more. He can't quite remember. A friend had invited him to the game, and as an "Islanders nut" and "anti-Rangers guy," he didn't refuse tickets.

As with many sports, there are rituals and routines that are performed prior to going to games. If you're a Long Islander, you probably know some of these well: the line of cars that snakes around to the Long Island Turnpike, drinks at the Marriott across the street, gatherings of friends wearing orange and blue in the parking lot.

It's quite a scene. Tailgates in front of the old barn looked and felt more like NFL games than NHL games. It was a spectacle visible from the Turnpike. The morning after games, several cars typically remained.

But this time, McNiff saw nothing. No cars, no crowds and only a few lonely business travelers inside the Marriott bar.

"He picks me up, we pull into the Coliseum and the Coliseum is empty," McNiff told Bleacher Report while sitting in his bar, The Irish Poet. "It turns out they were on the road."

The fact that the Islanders weren't even playing at home that night is fitting for this franchise. Home has been a relative term for the Islanders in recent years. There was the stint in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, which was built for basketball and made for a terrible hockey experience, with bad ice and an off-center scoreboard. There was a split schedule that had the team playing in Brooklyn and at the Coliseum. The 2021-22 season started with a 13-game road trip. There were threats of relocation to a city outside of New York.

But finally, the Islanders will return home Saturday, opening their brand-new, state-of-the-art building in Elmont, New York, called UBS Arena. It's a privately financed, 690,000-square-foot arena built with hockey as the priority. It's not far from the old barn, and inside it looks like a grown-up version with many of the same qualities of the Coliseum, including the ceiling, which is only three feet higher at UBS.

But the new building might as well be a world apart in terms of amenities.

So how do you bridge the gap between a building opened in 1972 and one in 2021? You use the fans.

Section 329 has been leading cheers at the Coliseum and Barclays Center for decades. They are vocal, they are visible and they even have a song about Josh Bailey (it's literally called "The Josh Bailey Song").

They are impossible to miss, and it's impossible not to join the fun. So naturally, the team consulted with them when designing and building UBS.

"They're the heartbeat of the crowd," said Brendan Burke, the Islanders' play-by-play announcer on MSG Networks and one of the voices of the NHL on TNT. "All of the cheers and chants that are a constant throughout the game generate from that section. They're very involved in the atmosphere. When you talk about the atmosphere of the Coliseum, it's not the building. It's the people. And that section certainly has a lot to do with getting everybody to join in on the party."

The Blue and Orange Army are a fan group that called Section 329 of the Coliseum home for many years. They chose 329 because it was right in front of where Bobby Nystrom scored the game-winner in the 1980 Stanley Cup Final. There is no 300 level in the new barn, but there will be a Section 329 just for them. There are other fan groups with different names, but they all join forces once the puck drops to create an atmosphere that is unique to Long Island.

It started in 2009, when James Fesselmeyer, a 39-year-old lifelong Babylon native, moved over to that section from 318. A fan of Liverpool FC, he had recently been to a game against Manchester United at Anfield and was inspired by the chants and songs prevalent in soccer.

"When I went out there, I was like, 'We should do this. We could do this,'" Fesselmeyer said. "That supporter section is about love and passion and cheering on the team and doing it in a fun way."

The Islanders opened the old barn in 1972. It's still there. It never really closed. It may never. It's a relic.

And much of it never really changed, either. The narrow concourses, the bathrooms the size of phone booths, the low ceilings and the smoking section were as synonymous with the rink as the banners that hung from that low ceiling.

The ceiling.

I asked several Isles fans at a Blue and Orange Army viewing party at The Irish Poet what they most remembered about the Coliseum. It was the ceiling. It felt as though it was going to come off when Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and Pat LaFontaine scored goals. In recent years, we all looked up to make sure it was still there when Anders Lee or Bailey crashed the net to set up game-winning goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Unfortunately, the ceiling was also covered in asbestos and leaked frequently.

"It was a dive. It was falling down. But it was fun," McNiff said. "It might have been a dive, but it was our dive."

Times changed and renovations took place, but walking into the place always felt like a time warp. It might as well have been 1983, the last year the Isles won a Stanley Cup.

"Nobody forgot their roots," said Blue and Orange Army member Craig Richardson. "It's always been that way."

But NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters in 2017 that the dilapidated arena wasn't up to snuff. Brooklyn seemed like a suitable solution since a decent portion of the fanbase was already commuting to the city daily, but some fans refused to make the trek.

It wasn't home. Long Island is home. Long Island is where they wanted to be. When you go to games in Long Island, you see your neighbors, your friends, your kids' friends, fellow PTA members, your plumber, your accountant and your bar buddies.

It's just different in Brooklyn. The community feel was gone.

"The Islanders are like the Green Bay Packers of the NHL," Burke said. As a Wisconsin native, he would know. "It's not in downtown Milwaukee. It's in Green Bay, Wisconsin. There is no downtown Long Island. It's a series of communities. So it really is a team that belongs to the community, and it's something the people there really take ownership of. And they should. The Islanders and Long Island are kind of inseparable. They are a part of the identity of the island, and the island is part of the identity of the islander.

"It's a pretty cool phenomenon to have all of these people who feel as involved as they are."

Richardson, Fesselmeyer and the other members of the Blue and Orange Army at the watch party exemplify that. But McNiff does especially.

A native of Ireland, he came to New York in the 1980s to work in the bar business. He ran another bar and restaurant, The Wantagh Inn, for many years, and there were players, coaches and other Islanders staffers who would drop in from time to time. He knows what the team means to the community, and he's felt the excitement since they broke ground in Elmont.

The new arena is the only one in the New York market that was built specifically for hockey. There is a 23,000 square-foot locker room and player campus complex. The scoreboard is the largest of any arena in New York. It seats 17,000 for hockey and up to 19,000 for concerts and features outdoor terraces, lounges, clubs, eight ice-facing bars and 56 luxury boxes, which is an increase from the Coliseum but fewer than you'll find in most modern arenas. This one was built with a social fan experience in mind.

As for the bathrooms, UBS Arena boasts more of them per person than any other arena in the area—and yes, they are much larger than the ones in the Coliseum!

There was input from head coach Barry Trotz, general manager Lou Lamoriello and even the fans in 329. 

"It's like a new lease on life," McNiff said. "It's the perfect time. This is what we need. The outrage when they went to Brooklyn showed. Everybody was upset. But people are excited. And it's 15-20 minutes from here. What more do you want?!"

The only thing the Islanders and their fans have ever wanted is a home they could be proud of. After all these years, they finally have one in UBS Arena.