Throughout the 2016-2017 season, and particularly towards the end, the New York Islanders saw glimmers of the franchise’s future. With Matthew Barzal knocking at the door (and expecting to be on the opening night roster in 17-18) plus the continued maturation of Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Ho-Sang depth scoring is well on the way…in a few more years.
The Islanders in November looked like a team that was dead in the water. Just a few months after winning their first playoff series in 23 years, the franchise was dead-last in the Eastern Conference and it looked like 15-16 was just a Cinderella-story.