The Best NHL Team Not Enough People Are Talking About in 2014-15

With every win against reputable opponents, the New York Islanders are gradually gaining respect. Other teams in the Eastern Conference should be worried. Islanders fans should feel proud and confident. The hockey community should be buzzing about the incredible turnaround taking place on Long Island. The Isles are the best NHL team not enough people are talking about in 2014-15.

They've been the beat-up little brother in the shadow of the Big Apple for a couple of decades. They've made the playoffs once in the past seven seasons and five times in the last 20 years. They haven't won a single postseason series since 1993. By comparison, the New York Rangers—the state's big-market team and favorite son—has made the playoffs for eight of nine seasons and was in the Cup final last spring.

The Islanders' last appearance in the championship series was way back in 1984, when they had a chance to win a fifth straight Stanley Cup but fell to the next burgeoning NHL dynasty, the Edmonton Oilers.

Nothing but negativity has followed, from arena concerns that will take them to the five boroughs next season, to bad deals and arguably even worse contracts. It's no wonder people are taking a while to buy what the Islanders are doing this season.

They are not a team to doubt or take lightly, however. Their points-per-game percentage is third-best in the league, behind only Montreal and Pittsburgh and ahead of the likes of heavyweights Anaheim, Los Angeles, Boston, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Chicago.

Islanders coach Jack Capuano summed up the team perfectly after a weekend sweep against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a conversation with Newsday's Arthur Staple:

"This is a new team with a new attitude," Capuano said. 

It's certainly a fresh look for the Isles, who were dead last in the Metropolitan Division a year ago at this time and are now tied with the Penguins for the division lead.

Despite so many years of miserable finishes, the Islanders now have tremendous depth. Their offseason signings of Nikolay Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski—long a favorite of the advanced stats crowd—has helped take the scoring pressure off former first-overall draft pick John Tavares and wingman Kyle Okposo. Those additions also have given the cast of young Isles forwards more veteran mentors and have spread the scoring across the top nine, with the occasional contributions from the fourth-liners.

As a team, the Islanders ranked third in goals-per-game average with 3.20 heading into Sunday's action. The team has five players on pace for at least 20 goals with three others currently on pace for more than 15.

Kulemin (4-7-11)	Tavares (8-12-20)	Okposo (5-14-19)
Nelson (10-9-19)	Strome (4-11-15)	Lee (3-1-4)
Bailey (3-4-7)	Grabovski (4-5-9)	Nielsen (5-7-12)
Martin (2-1-3)	Cizikas (2-1-3)	Clutterbuck (2-2-4)

The team is playing a strong possession game, ranking fifth in the league with a 52.9 Corsi-for percentage according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com. They've racked up the NHL's second-best shots-per-game average with 32.8.

Offense is coming from the back end as well with more recent additions Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, who the Islanders picked up in separate trades early in October. They lead the Isles' blue line in points and have allowed the minutes to be spread fairly evenly out among the entire group, with none of the top six averaging more than 22 minutes and none playing fewer than 18:50.

"

Islanders a much, much different and better team with Boychuk and Leddy.

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) November 23, 2014"

The biggest upgrade, however, may have come in goal, where Jaroslav Halak has given the Islanders some stability not seen since Rick DiPietro was still considered a promising young netminder and not an overpaid anchor of a contract who couldn't stay healthy. 

Halak did go through a cold snap, losing four straight games with some unflattering results. However, his goals-against average is dropping and his save percentage is strong. He has won six straight games while allowing just eight goals in that stretch—including two shutouts.

The 29-year-old cost the Islanders a fourth-round pick and a sack of cash but the team probably feels like it made off like bandits after sending the compensation to the Washington Capitals for exclusive signing rights for the pending unrestricted free agent and then inking him to a four-year deal worth a reasonable $18 million.

His .918 save percentage is higher than all but one of the past nine Islanders netminders to play the most games in a season.

Year	Goalie	Save Percentage
2014-15	Jaroslav Halak	.918
2013-14	Evgeni Nabokov	.905
2012-13	Evgeni Nabokov	.910
2011-12	Evgeni Nabokov	.914
2010-11	Rick DiPietro	.886
2009-10	Dwayne Roloson	.907
2008-09	Joey MacDonald	.901
2007-08	Rick DiPietro	.902
2006-07	Rick DiPietro	.919
2005-06	Rick DiPietro	.900

In terms of top-end talent, the Islanders have one of the best players in the league in the captain, Tavares. They also have one of the league's up-and-comers in Brock Nelson, who in his second NHL season has been just as productive as Tavares after honing his skills in the American Hockey League for a year following his time at the University of South Dakota. With them on different lines and Grabovski and Kulemin on a third, the Isles boast incredible depth and talent.

The sustainability of the offensive production looks solid, too, with the Islanders' shooting percentage only mildly above the league's average of around nine percent according to SportingCharts.com. There's also room for improvement in special teams, with the Islanders' 19.5 power-play percentage 15th in the league and penalty kill among the six worst in the league at a 75.4 percent.

Another surprising team this season, the Calgary Flames, have a sky-high shooting percentage as a team, clicking at 11.58 percent—second only to the Tampa Bay Lightning—and could see a drop in goals, which would likely lead to a plummet in points.

If the Islanders' wins over Tampa, Boston, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, the Rangers and now a sweep over the Penguins don't have you convinced the Islanders are a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, you're missing out on a bandwagon that's about to get a lot more crowded.

"

The New York Islanders are the real deal, folks. The real deal.

— Daniel Friedman (@DFriedmanOnNYI) November 23, 2014"

Steve Macfarlane has been covering the NHL for more than a decade, including seven seasons with the Calgary Sun. Follow him on Twitter @macfarlaneHKY.