The Islanders now have one year under their belt at Barclays Center, are under new majority owners and have broken a 23-year drought without an appearance in the second round of the playoffs.
Those were three huge steps the franchise has taken over the past year.
But how to keep moving forward from their second-round ouster at the hands of the Lightning is a more complicated endeavor, and one the Islanders are trying to do with a team that is very different from those of recent vintage.
They lost three longtime forwards to free agency, as Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin all signed deals elsewhere.