HFNHL Islanders Season Outlook

[Zack22]

The New York Islanders are ready for the 2019/2020 season and are looking to win it all. The Islanders are pleased to bring back Eric Gryba from his short stint with the Wild and are ecstatic to have found Ekblad’s new D-partner in Travis Hamonic.

The Islanders were devastated by the heart-breaking game 7 loss to the Senators in the ECF this year. GM Zack Szweras contemplated tearing up the team and rebuilding their small prospect pool around a young Centre core but ultimately decided to give this team another chance at the Cup.

During the offseason the Islanders’ believed their biggest weakness was their defensive core and pounced all over the opportunity to grab a top-4 defenceman in Travis Hamonic. GM Zack Szweras hopes that Hamonic is the missing piece in this Championship Caliber team. The Islanders were relatively quiet during FA as they were already close to the cap and didn’t have the money to spend on the top guys. The Islanders hope that Gryba is a good value signing, playing on the bottom pair and maybe some 2nd pair PK minutes.

The 2019/2020 Projected Lines:

Ovechkin-Monahan-Kuznetsov
Granlund-Strome-Radulov
Brown-Letestu-Boyle
Shore-Gauthier-Cracknell

Ekblad-Hamonic
Goligoski-Ceci
Lovejoy-Gryba
Rosen

Anderson
McElhinney

Let’s hope that this is the year the Islanders go all the way!

Click to read more...

 

[Ohio Jones]

I think one of the biggest questions for your future is whether Ekblad can take his game up to another level. As it is he’s not yet quite living up to his projections, but with all the changes around him in Florida - not least the change behind him in net - and some added maturity, I think he’s still got a shot of becoming a true franchise defenceman.

Interesting, lots of current and former Leafs in depth roles in the lineup...

 

[Zack22]

I think one of the biggest questions for your future is whether Ekblad can take his game up to another level. As it is he’s not yet quite living up to his projections, but with all the changes around him in Florida - not least the change behind him in net - and some added maturity, I think he’s still got a shot of becoming a true franchise defenceman.

Interesting, lots of current and former Leafs in depth roles in the lineup...

I like the chances of Ekblad having a better year this year. I think Florida did a great job in the offseason and could see Ekblad playing with Stralman which could help him focus more on his offensive game.