New Islanders captain John Tavares poses for a photo with coach Jack Capuano and GM Garth Snow.
nhl.com

For over 40 years, the Islanders have called Nassau Coliseum home. Since entering the league in 1972, they have only known one arena. On Long Island in Nassau County that’s included a rich history featuring one of the NHL’s greatest dynasties. Built on the strength of Bill Torrey’s drafts that included Hall Of Famers Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Billy Smith along with Clark Gillies, Ken Morrow, John Tonelli, Stefan Persson, Duane and Brent Sutter, they won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-83. A trade for Bob Nystrom put them over the top. His overtime winner gave the Islanders their first Cup.

Amazingly, this will be the final season at the Coliseum. Beginning in October 2015, they’ll relocate to Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It’ll be strange. For 42 years, the Islanders and Long Island have been family. In the future, those passionate fans that have supported them will have to take Mass Transit if they want to see their team. For now, they’ll savor one last year cheering their favorite players who don the trademark dark navy blue and bright orange jerseys.

The current team is looking to move in the right direction. Led by captain John Tavares, they are a young group hoping to surprise their competitors in a tough Metropolitan Division. After losing Tavares to a torn MCL, they finished last with 79 points. A fully recovered Tavares should help. The core is built around the 24-year old franchise center who’ll team up with ’13-14 leading scorer Kyle Okposo to form a dynamic duo. Frans Nielsen provides them with a strong top three.

General Manager Garth Snow inked Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolay Kulemin. The former Leafs played together and are being relied upon for secondary scoring. The Isles are also looking for improvement from Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson. Each enters their second year. Vets Josh Bailey and Michael Grabner must be more consistent. Both are capable of contributing but hit dry spells last year which really hurt the club. Anders Lee and Matt Martin are strong support players along with Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas. Snow also brought in Jack Skille and Cory Conacher to compete for spots.

Snow’s biggest addition was Jaroslav Halak, who’ll be a huge upgrade in net. The 29-year old Slovak is capable of carrying a team. However, he’s never appeared in more than 57 games posting career bests in wins (27) and shutouts (7) with St. Louis in ’10-11. He’ll need to win 30-or-more if the Isles are to challenge for the postseason. Chad Johnson was signed as a backup which is an improvement over Kevin Poulin. The Isles are banking on the new goalie tandem will keep them in more games.

On the blueline, they’ll get back veteran Lubomir Visnovsky, who is returning after missing most of last season with a concussion. If healthy, he can aid their power play and log important minutes relieving pressure from Travis Hamonic. If there is an Achilles heel, it’s a young defense which heavily relies on Hamonic. The 24-year old is the glue that holds it together. He’ll need help from sophomore Calvin de Haan, who has the potential to be a shutdown D. A superb skater with good instincts, it appears the franchise’s patience might pay off. If his rookie year is any indication, the sky’s the limit. Vets Brian Strait and Thomas Hickey are solid but unsteady. As long as Visnovsky, Hamonic and de Haan can carry the load, that’ll allow coach Jack Capuano to limit their minutes. Matt Donovan and Kevin Czuczman could push for time.

The club also has high hopes for prospects Griffin Reinhart and Ville Pokka. Both are only 20 with lots of potential. Unless either blows them away in camp, there’s no reason to rush. As long as they remain patient, they should continue to improve.

It’s hard to predict how they’ll do. This is a team with some good talent. At the NHL level, they have a surplus at forward. The additions of Grabovski and Kulemin could make Bailey or Grabner expendable. Considering that Grabner is explosive shorthanded, I’d retain him and explore trading Bailey. The only problem is he’s signed for another three years at a cap hit of $3.3 million while Grabner’s contract expires after 2015-16. Depending on where they are in the standings, Snow could look to acquire a defenseman. We’ll have to wait and see.

Of the three Battle Of New York clubs that comprise the metro area, they’re the team with the brightest future. However, it all hinges on Halak. Is he cut out for New York? Time shall tell.