Pool Outlook for Long Island

I suppose we could measure the Islanders' successes by their improvements, even if they are marginal. The Islanders did go from being the last place team in the league to being in 26th, which is a good shake up, although at this pace, they might be another few years before a playoff spot emerges. Their points total did go up by 18, so that's also a pretty good sign. They shaved 36 goals off their negative goal differential between seasons, between scoring some more and letting fewer in. Change in the NHL isn't going to come overnight, by any means, so when you've sat at the bottom for a while, it's all looking up from there on in.

There was quite a while there where I didn't think it was going to end up this way, but John Tavares did finish off the 2010 campaign as the Islanders' leading point-getter. He finished off the season with 24 goals and 30 assists, playing in all 82 games in his rookie campaign on the island. Tavares did bring some much-needed offense to the Islanders, which was the entire point of drafting him 1st overall last summer, but he does need a little bit more help to put himself into elite status like his former number one counterparts.

For a team that finished fairly low in the standings, the numbers from their forwards couldn't really be considered all that terrible, especially since they had eight forwards that had 10 or more goals. I know 10 isn't all that much, but looking at the roster of names, it does look like some sort of minor miracle that they pulled off that statistic. Behind Tavares, the Islanders picked up some good production from both Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson, who finished with 52 and 48 points, respectively, while Moulson actually led the team in goals with 30 in 2010. Moulson was by far the biggest surprise, as a free agent signing in July, the Islanders were keen to match him up with Summer training partner, Tavares, and it seemed to pay dividends. The Islanders are slowly putting together a decent core of forwards, which includes Frans Nielsen, Josh Bailey, Trent Hunter and Sean Bergenheim.

The defense on Long Island is continued to be anchored by Mark Streit, who had a slight decrease in his production from the 2009 season, but still managed to drum up 49 points (11 goals & 38 assists) in 82 games. Streit continues to be a pretty good pillar to build onto on the Island. The Islanders also saw some promise from Jack Hillen this season, who increased the number of games and his points from the 2009 season, as he picked up 21 points (3 goals & 18 assists) in 69 games. Beyond Bruno Gervais and Freddie Meyer, the participation and production really drops off, so I would be expecting to be growing more defenders in the near future.

The Islanders opened the season to some interesting question marks after they signed both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron to free agent deals, while Rick DiPietro was still in the mix as the "franchise goalie." Fortunately for the veteran keepers, DiPietro was still a ways from coming back from injury at that point and they could go about their business, Roloson moreso than Biron, stopping pucks for the Islanders. Roloson led the way in minutes played and wins, picking up 23 victories in 2010 and ending up with 48 pool points to show for it. That wasn't half bad, actually. Biron finished with 9 wins and 21 points, while DiPietro did manage to see some time in the net before getting shut down early again, winning 2 games.

2011 Season Outlook
There might not be a lot on the table below that will give a lot of hope for the coming season, but I think there is definitely enough in the Islanders system that has the potential to make the jump that should excite the fans on the island. They certainly have plenty of a room to move, even underneath a club-imposed budget. I think the biggest issues between winning a few more games and staying the same is more about staying healthy, moreso to one name in particular.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
John Tavares	Mark Streit	Dwayne Roloson
Frans Nielsen	Jack Hillen	Rick DiPietro
Blake Comeau	Bruno Gervais
Josh Bailey	Andrew MacDonald
Trent Hunter	Brendan Witt
	Radek Martinek

According to the table above, I have the Islanders with 13 signed players that should be good to go for their opening night roster at an annual salary cap hit of $26 million in total. Potentially, the Islanders could fill up the rest of their 23-man roster and just barely hit the cap floor, let alone the ceiling. Already, the team has filled up a starting six on defense and two goalies, so they will get a good chance to go shopping for some scoring forwards to help compliment Tavares and company up front.

As you can probably tell, the Islanders playing roster compared to the roster above means that they will have plenty of opening due to free agency. Matt Moulson, who was one of the headliners of the year, only signed a 1-year deal in the Summer and now figures to be an unrestricted free agent again, but I think we all share the feeling that the Islanders will be happy to throw some money at him to keep him around. It's just a question about how much. Martin Biron, Tim Jackman, Freddie Meyer, Richard Park, Jon Sim and Doug Weight will also hit the UFA market this Summer and I can only see two maybe three coming back.

On the RFA side, Sean Bergenheim, Kyle Okposo, Rob Schremp and Jeff Tambellini will need to be looked after, but with how shallow the forward pool is for the Islanders, I would imagine they will be racing to sign these guys up right away, just to save themselves some issues when July 1st comes around.

Talking about growing defenders earlier, the Islanders do have a number of good young defenders in their system, as they are currently holding onto Calvin de Haan, an offensive defenseman; Travis Hamonic, who is a more physical defenseman with offensive upside; and Mark Katic, who has been pegged as a puck-moving defenseman. If I had to make a guess, I would say that de Haan is the most likely candidate for making the team straight out of camp and depending on how many spots are actually available, I could see either Hamonic or Katic making a push. There's lots to look forward to on the Islanders blueline.

The Islanders also hold the 5th pick in the Entry Draft and I honestly believe that they will be looking for another scoring forward to compliment their team. If it's going to be flash and dash they require, I could see them bump Nino Neiderreiter up the ranks and get him in 5th.

What I said at this time last year: "The Islanders have been a pretty tough place to get good fantasy picks for a little while now. There is just way too many question marks when looking at their players. Are they injury prone? Will they mesh well with their new teammates? Even the likes of John Tavares may have his fantasy value diminished by the selection to the Islanders. I would be staying away from Rick DiPietro for as long as possible these days, unless he can really put together a couple solid seasons."

Admittedly, I really should have included Mark Streit in the paragraph about good picks that you can take from Long Island, but I'm sure there were going to be a few that were going to overlook him anyways. I would say that Tavares' fantasy value was diminished by joining a very low-key Islanders team, but it's all gonna skyrocket soon, with the right help in place. If you stayed away from DiPietro, I will applaud you and maybe slip a little bit of credit into my backpocket, although it isn't going to be much. I have a feeling that the gambling urge for DiPietro was pretty small.

As for 2011... I think their season really depends on how they work around their offseason. Tavares will score more, even without more quality help, so that's definitely a plus. Streit will still be a good scoring defenseman that'll quarterback the power play. DiPietro is still a wild card and would still stay away from him, still with the two good seasons rule of staying away. I'm really hoping they can add de Haan and he'll make a Michael Del Zotto-like impression. There are definitely some pluses in the Islanders future, but I can't see them improving by any more than 10 points next season, if they improve much at all... barring a blockbuster deal, of course.