Just a preface to this series. I am not pulling a BT and writing a season preview for every team in the league, because I do not have nearly enough time to do that. I am doing season previews for the five Atlantic Division teams, as those are the five teams that I know the best.

The New York Islanders used to be a dominant team in the 1980s. Remember, they won four-straight Stanley Cups? And they were the first ones to lose to the dominant Edmonton dynasty of the '80s?

What the heck happened to it?

In recent years, the Islanders have struggled greatly to succeed, only making the playoffs once in the last three years. They have struggled with general management, as Garth Snow has been unable to put together a decent team. Even with a string of high draft picks, the Isles have been unable to succeed in what they are being paid to do: put a decent hockey team on the ice.

2007-2008 Record: 35-38-9, 79 points, 194 GF, 243 GA, fifth in Atlantic, 13th in East.

Players Lost: Ruslan Fedotenko, Penguins; Miroslav Satan, Penguins; Aaron Johnson, Blackhawks.

Players Signed (including re-signings): D Mark Streit (5-years, $20.5 million), F Doug Weight (1-year, $1.75 million, could reach $4.3 million with bonuses), F Jeff Tambellini (2-year, $1.175 million), F Jeremy Colliton (1-year contract), F Ben Walter (1-year contract), F Sean Bergenheim (2-years, $1.725 million), F Frans Nielsen (4-years, $2.1 million), D Bruno Gervais (3-year contract).

Unsigned Players: D Bryan Berard, F Kip Brennan, F Matt Keith (UFAs), D Matt Spiller (RFA).

2008 Entry Draft: Four centers (Josh Bailey, 9th overall Corey Trivino at 36th overall, David Toews at 66th and Justin DiBenedetto at 175th), five defensemen (Aaron Ness at 40th, Travis Hamonic at 53rd, Jyri Niemi at 72nd, Matt Donovan at 96th and Jared Spurgeon at 156th), three wings (Kirill Petrov at 73rd, David Ullstrom and 102nd and Matthew Martin at 148th) and one goaltender (Kevin Poulin at 126th).

There is no way I’m giving you a Streit answer…

The Islanders signed “star” defenseman Mark Streit, of the Montreal Canadiens, with a monstrous five-year, $20.5 million deal. Streit had a career year this past season, with 13 goals and 62 points. He dominated the Canadiens’ league-leading power-play unit, and the Islanders are hoping that he can help raise their terrible offense to a higher level.

He was ranked third among defensemen in points, and fourth among defensemen in assists. However, a stat that many people overlook is the fact that he was a -6 rating. He is not as great as people think in the defensive zone, and he made many mistakes defensively.

The Islanders also fail to realize that he is not an unbelievable defenseman. He is good, but not great. Remember, this guy played on a Canadiens’ team along with the Kostitsyn brothers, Alexei Kovalev, and Andrei Markov opposite him on defense.

The Islanders do not seem to have enough talent to support this guy. He is also 30-years old, and you cannot expect him to stay talented too much longer. I think that he is ultimately going to fail on Long Island.

 

Why don’t you Comeau-ver here?

Right-winger Blake Comeau is an extremely young player, who had a so-so rookie season this past year. Comeau scored eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 51 games with the Islanders.

I believe that he is going to have a much better sophomore season in 2008-2009. He is most likely going to be playing on the second line, along with Weight and Hunter. He may be able to get a good 40 points in his sophomore season, even playing on a weak Islanders’ team.

 

Weight for me!

Doug Weight is on the downhill. That simple. He had 25 points in 67 games on a strong Anaheim team last year, and he was barely able to hold a positive plus/minus rating. I do not think that signing Weight was the right decision for Garth Snow to make.

He is clearly on the downside of his career, and he is not going to do much to help the Islanders, other than adding a bit of leadership in the locker room, which, at this point, is not really going to help the Islanders.

 

Keep it Close, now…

A fact that many people do not know is that the Islanders are not actually a bad team. Well, relatively...In one-goal games last year, the Islanders were 23-8-9, an unbelievable record. In two-goal games, they were 5-12, and in three-or-more-goal games, they were a horrible 7-18.

So what does this mean? It means that the Islanders have to keep it close. They have one of the most talented goalies in the league in Rick DiPietro, and if you give him enough defense, he will stop at least 92 percent of the shots that he faces.

If your goalie stops that many shots, you will indeed win at least 5-10 more games, and in a tight Eastern Conference, that could be the difference between a playoff berth and a last-place finish.

 

There is no pun I could possibly make with Okposo…A little help, BT?

Kyle Okposo is the top prospect in the New York Islanders’ farm system. He scored five points in his nine games with the Islanders this past season, and he looks to be on the second or third line this upcoming year.

Okposo is one of the few bright spots in this dark lineup of Islanders’ players. He will have a great rookie campaign this upcoming season, and although he will be swallowed in the sea of Stamkos, Turris, Giroux, and Doughty, he will succeed greatly.

 

So what is going to happen?

The Islanders are clearly one of the weakest, if not the weakest, teams in the Eastern Conference. They have tons of work to do, and Garth Snow should be on the hot seat.  New Coach Scott Gordon may be a great coach, but he is still going to be unable to succeed in his rookie year with the team in front of him.

Prediction: 15th in the Eastern Conference, 5th in the Atlantic Division.

 

Alan Bass is a Senior Writer for Bleacher Report and the Community Leader for the Philadelphia Flyers section.  He is also the co-host of NHL 2Day, a weekly radio show on Youcastr.com.  You can contact him at ALN424@aol.com.  You can also check out his BR archives here.