Isles Reflect on 2024-25 Season

Clean out day came too early for the New York Islanders this season – as the Isles will miss the playoffs for just the second time in the past seven seasons.

Instead of preparing for the postseason, Saturday was a day of reflection, as the team packed up their lockers, signed merchandise and spoke to the media for the final time this year, diagnosing the year that was.

“Missing the playoffs sucks,” Casey Cizikas said. “This feeling is not good. And I hope guys do what they need to do this summer and get back, because we have one goal in mind, and that's the same as every other team and that's to win the Stanley Cup.”

The Islanders finished the season with a 35-35-12 record and 82 points, nine back of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. To return to the playoffs, the Islanders felt like they needed to return to the identity of the stingy defensive team that went to back-to-back third rounds in 2020 and 2021.

“We need to find our identity again and find that path of what we are,” Scott Mayfield said. “I think we built a certain way to play a certain way, and we need to respect that.”

The Islanders allowed 3.13 goals per game this past season, which were the 13^th most in the NHL. Two years ago, the Islanders averaged 2.65 goals against per game, which were fifth fewest. In the 2020-21 season, the Isles averaged the second fewest goals against in the league.

“We're very confident in our goaltending,” Mayfield said. “For that to be good, we also have to make sure defensively, we're taking care of our end. So, we have to find that identity. Everyone's going to have to look in the mirror.”

Closing out games was also a calling card for the Islanders teams of the recent past, but was an area that hurt early in the season. The Isles allowed 94 third period goals, 10^th most in the NHL, and allowed 10 tying-or-go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period this season, going 3-3-4 over that span. That didn’t include losing a 3-0 lead against the Florida Panthers in October, or a 3-2 loss against the Seattle Kraken in November with 3:13 to play.

“That’s something that we haven't done a very good job of the past couple years,” Adam Pelech said of closing out games. “That, along with the penalty kill, I feel like should be two things that are just kind of our calling card, and unfortunately, the past couple years haven't been good enough.”

From 2020-23, the Isles finished top-10 on the penalty kill in each season, but this year the penalty kill (72.2%) finished 31^st. So did the power play, which converted at 12.6% and addressing special teams will be a focus going forward.

While the power play struggled consistently – Mathew Barzal missing 52 games hurt in terms of zone entries according to Tony DeAngelo – it was a tale of two seasons for the penalty kill. From Oct. 10 to Jan. 1, the penalty kill was a league-low 63.9%, but from Jan. 1 onward, the PK converted at 79.4%, which ranked 12^th. Ryan Pulock credits a mid-season meeting for turning around the fortunes of the PK, but acknowledged it cost the Isles points early.

“When you're at the bottom of the league in both, it's never a recipe for success,” Bo Horvat said. “We’re pushing for a playoff spot, and we're right there this whole time, and we're at the bottom of the league in those in those aspects, and you can just imagine where we'd be if we were, middle of the pack, or even at the top of the top part of the league, top five, top 10, where that would put us. It’s something that we definitely have to work on and get better at.”

Consistency came up in a similar vein. The Islanders had seven winless skids of three-or-more games, compared to just three streaks of three-or-more wins in a row, punctuated by a seven-game winning streak in late January.

“We have really good stretches where we keep ourselves in it and right there in the chase,” Horvat said. “But would be a lot easier on us and mentally and as a team, physically, if we were at the top of our division or in a playoffs for a longer period of time, rather than chasing the whole time. And I just think we have to find that consistency in our game to make that happen.”

While the Islanders didn’t want to use injuries as an excuse, they were certainly a factor in the 2024-25 season. Barzal was limited to just 30 games, while Semyon Varlamov’s season ended after 10 games. (Both players are expected to be back for training camp.) Mike Reilly missed 64 games, Anthony Duclair missed 38, Adam Pelech missed 22, Alexander Romanov missed 18 and Noah Dobson missed 11.

There were positives from the past season, including Simon Holmstrom’s development, a second-straight 82-game season for Kyle Palmieri, and a successful transition to North America for Max Tsyplakov, but on the whole, the Isles are unsatisfied, and will look to the feelings from clean out day to fuel their offseason.

“We're not happy standing here today,” Captain Anders Lee said. “We're attacking the reasons of went wrong and how we can be better in those regards. Come fall, there should be no questions on where our heads at, and what our feelings are as a response to how this season went.”