New York Islanders
Preseason Odds: Stanley Cup +3500
The New York Islanders stand a good chance of making a return to the playoff picture this season. They barely missed the postseason last year, but remain a solid contender in today’s NHL. However, they are likely to enter as a low seed and so might not enjoy home-court advantage in the opening round.
Preseason, the Islanders were ranked around the middle of the pack to lift the Stanley Cup in 2023 in terms of NHL betting odds. While we don’t think they’re a team that will go all the way this year, they’ve made a positive start to the campaign and might end up doing better than initially expected.
Team captain Anders Lee has done a good job leading the Islanders, and has been racking up plenty of points. Meanwhile Brock Nelson is netting the goals, while Mathew Barzal is serving with plenty of assists for the team.
The Islanders are also getting some production from Noah Dobson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Zach Parise. Ilya Sorokin is looking strong in the net with a 2.17 goals-against average.
The New York Islanders will be looking to return to the playoff picture this season. They missed out last year, however made it to the semis in 2021 so will be hoping that the 2021-22 season was a temporary blip.
The team lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2019, while they lost the Conference Finals in 2020.
The Islanders franchise was founded in 1972 and is one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area. It didn’t take long before they found some success because they entered the postseason in their third year.
Their great fortune continued until they won four straight Stanley Cups from 1979 to 1983. The Islanders also played in the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals but lost to the Edmonton Oilers.
Since then, they have found it challenging to sustain their success. They’ve only been to two conference finals since but lost in both opportunities. The Islanders reached the semifinals during the 2020-21 season but fell victim to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Islanders play their home games at UBS Arena, a state of the art facility which replaced Nassau Coliseum in 2021. It was built to accommodate more fans because Nassau used to be the second smallest NHL venue. The venue can accommodate up to 17,255 hockey spectators. It’s also called “The Stable” because of its proximity to Belmont Park.
The New York Rangers are a key rival for the Islanders, given that they share The Empire State. The two teams have met 327 times, and the Rangers have a 153-145-19-10 edge in the all-time series. However, the Islanders have a 20-19 advantage in their postseason faceoffs. The Battle of New York happened in the playoffs eight times, the last coming in the 1994 Conference Quarterfinals, which the Rangers swept.
The Islanders also have a feud with the Philadelphia Flyers, given the bitter rivalry among the sports fans in both cities. They met in the playoffs 11 times, and the Flyers won six of those encounters.
Finally, the Islanders have been bitter rivals of the Pittsburgh Penguins since the 1970s, winning five of their six playoff series. The two teams were also involved in a 2011 brawl that led to 65 penalties amounting to 346 penalty minutes.
