EAST MEADOW, NY — There had been a lot of talk about the New York Islanders’ window of contention being shut after they followed up two consecutive Stanley Cup semifinal losses in 2020 and 2021 with two playoff misses, two first-round postseason losses, and three different head coaches over the next four years.
That was a whole lot of phooey to captain Anders Lee, who is a centerpiece of the veteran core that many had put out to pasture last season, and heading into the 2025-26 campaign with new general manager Mathieu Darche.
“This core, this group that’s still here, the guys that are in this group, we put our foot forward every damn night,” Lee, who is one of the nine remaining members of that 2021 Eastern Conference finalist team, told amNewYork. “Regardless of windows being closed or open, you don’t look at that as an athlete, as a teammate. You don’t look at that as, ‘Oh, we’re not coming back now because we missed our window.’ You’re driven more to prove your worth, to prove what you can do as a group. That’s just not our line of thinking. I feel like the window is always open.”
It is especially yawning this season, perhaps to the surprise of many.
Following last season’s playoff miss and the dismissal of team president Lou Lamoriello, most prognosticators labeled this season a transition, especially after the Islanders won the No. 1 overall pick to draft the already-star 18-year-old defenseman, Matthew Schaefer.
Instead, they are on the cusp of the unofficial second half of the NHL’s season, following the three-week Olympic break, sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division — the last automatic playoff spot — and just one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second.
“I expected this,” defenseman Ryan Pulock, another member of that 2021 team who is now working alongside Schaefer on the Islanders’ top defensive pairing, said. “I knew we were capable of it. I think the disappointing past couple of years, with this room and the guys we brought in, I felt that we could be here. But it’s easier said than done. It takes commitment, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot to put yourself in this position. So I just think we understand that, and now it’s about finding another level to take our game to. There’s more we can do. We can be better. There’s more we can bring.
“We just have to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs. That’s our first goal. The second goal is trying to work through the playoffs and find a way to win. But we have to make it there first.”
There is something satisfying about all of this for that veteran core, which had been prematurely cast off by many. Mathew Barzal is back to thriving under Patrick Roy and Darche’s aggressive system with 51 points in 57 games. Lee has graciously grown into his third-line role and ranks fourth on the team with 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists). Pulock is already a plus-12 this season after being a plus-5 over the previous two seasons combined, and his 20 assists in 56 games are on pace to set a new career high. Lee’s linemate on the third unit, center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, is on pace to score his most goals since 2021-22 while holding the fifth-best face-off win percentage among all skaters in the NHL who have taken at least 500 draws.
Then there is goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who will be a significant player in Vezina Trophy talks behind a 2.44 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage, and a league-leading six shutouts.
“I’m not surprised. Who cares what happened the year before?” Lee asked. “There’s a lot of stuff that happens. It’s a tight league. You lose three or four games in overtime, you lose four in a row, all of a sudden, it happens quick. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad hockey team. So you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You have to get back to work. I think overall this season, we’ve taken care of some big moments, won games we shouldn’t have, and gotten some big overtime goals.
“Those five, six points add up at the end of a hockey season, at the end of 82. I always believe in this group, and regardless of what everyone else thinks, I think that’s the way you have to do it. If you don’t believe in this group, what are you doing?”
Just 24 games remain in the Islanders’ regular season, and the last push begins on Thursday night in Montreal against the Canadiens.
“We’ve had enough practices. It’s nice to compete,” Lee said. “The stretch we’re going into, our final 24 here, it’s the best part of the year. I love this run, how hard it can be, and the challenges it creates, but also how rewarding it can be.”
