[dannibalcorpse]

The Islanders’ 2017-18 season has come to a close. It seems safe to say that the upheaval at the beginning of the season led to a very uneven year for the team, as they finished 33-42-7, 14th overall in the Eastern Conference. Not to say that all was bad in the Barclays this year; fans were treated to yet another stellar season from captain John Tavares (33-39-72). Offseason acquisition Jordan Eberle scored 22 goals and his 54 points were second on the team, and 2016’s big free agent signing Andrew Ladd had a nice bounce back year, scoring 21 goals and 42 points in the 2nd year of his 7 year deal. Anders Lee had another 20 goal season, potting 21 to go along with his 15 assists. Mat Barzal had a strong rookie year, with 8 goals and 26 assists, and Josh Ho-Sang put up a 12-14-26 line in limited minutes. Nick Leddy led all Islanders defensemen with an 11-30-41 line, and trade deadline acquisition Sami Vatanen had 4 goals and 12 points in 17 games after coming over. Devon Toews had a late season cup of coffee and showed some strong offensive presence, with 6 points in 17 games on the third defensive pair. Thomas Greiss struggled in the first year of his 3 year, $10M contract, going 14-22-4 with a 3.17 GAA and .892 SV%. More encouraging was the play of Kristers Gudlevskis, who went 4-6-2 with a 2.31 GAA and .927 SV% after being called up at the deadline.

League-wide, there was predictably not much news after the trade deadline. The biggest moves came behind the bench - the Tampa Bay Lightning fired coach Jon Cooper on March 18th. Cooper had Tampa Bay on the fringes of the playoff race at 32-34-5; many speculate that Steve Yzerman felt the flames beneath his seat and looked for a scapegoat. Longtime WHL coach Don Hay, last seen in the NHL as Calgary’s coach in 2000-01, was tabbed to finish the year out and almost pulled off a miracle, going 9-2-0 down the stretch as the Lightning finished 3 points out of a playoff spot. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill also felt the axe fall on March 30th - despite only 4 games being left in the season, Ken Holland wanted to get a jump start on next year’s coach getting to know the room. Dan Bylsma took over the 26-47-5 Red Wings and won’t he last 4 games, leaving the year off on a high note.

The scoring race held pat the rest of the way - Sidney Crosby (47-62-109) picked up the Art Ross, while Patrick Kane’s 49 goals won the Rocket Richard. Kane, Jonathan Toews(league leading 71 assists) and Corey Crawford’s 48 wins helped lead the Blackhawks to the President’s Trophy at 55-24-3. Crawford’s wins weren’t enough to get him into the Vezina race though, as the three finalists are Braden Holtby (39-16-5, 2.13, .913), Sergei Bobrovsky (39-17-9, 2.04, .917), and Jonathan Quick. Quick led the league with a 1.79 GAA, and tied with Roberto Luongo for the best save percentage at .920 while going 40-16-6 for the Kings, so he’s the favorite out of the gate. Crosby is joined by Connor McDavid (38-58-96) and Erik Karlsson (14-47-61) as Hart Trophy nominees; strangely enough, Karlsson was not nominated for the Norris Trophy. Instead, the Kings’ duo of Alec Martinez (15-31-46) and Drew Doughty (17-50-67) were nominated along with Chicago’s Duncan Keith (14-35-49). Rookies Clayton Keller (23-35-58), Nico Hischier (30-25-55), and Owen Tippett (22-25-47) are finalists for the Calder, and Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, and Jason Zucker are nominees for the Selke Trophy.

PLAYOFF PREVIEW: EAST

Washington Capitals (51-25-6, 1st Metro) vs. Montreal Canadiens (42-35-5, 4th Atlantic)

Alex Ovechkin (44-46-90), Nicklas Backstrom (30-60-90), and TJ Oshie (25-38-63) combined for 114 points on the power play, so the Canadiens need to avoid penalties. Pekka Rinne (13-13-0, 2.41, .906) will need to step up in Game 1 since Carey Price (33-27-4, 2.38, .917) is still nursing an elbow injury.

Columbus Blue Jackets (47-23-12, 2nd Metro) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (50-28-4, 3rd Metro)

Sergei Bobrovsky will have his hands full with a Penguins lineup featuring five different 20 goal scorers: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin (32-46-78), Phil Kessel (28-39-67), Jake Guentzel (22-35-57), Conor Sheary (28-28-56), and Patric Hornqvist (22-27-49). The key might actually be Matt Murray - the goaltender showed some signs of regression this year, with his 38-19-5 record and 2.58 GAA being undercut by a .897 SV%.

Toronto Maple Leafs (47-31-4, 1st Atlantic) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (41-33-8, 4th Metro)

The youth movement in Toronto pays its first major dividends with a division win, and now Auston Matthews (35-37-72) and company take on a deep Philly team led by Claude Giroux (30-60-90), John Klingberg (22-37-59), and Michael Neuvirth (37-23-7, 2.83, .902)

Florida Panthers (40-32-10, 2nd Atlantic) vs. Boston Bruins (41-34-7, 3rd Metro)

Boston comes in missing both Zdeno Chara (8-25-33) and Brad Marchand (17-23-40 in 43 GP), and Florida comes in riding a resurgent Roberto Luongo (28-21-9, 2.32, .920) and a strong top line of Sasha Barkov (34-35-69), Vincent Trocheck (20-31-51), and rookie Owen Tippett.

PLAYOFF PREVIEW: WEST

Chicago Blackhawks (55-24-3, 1st Central) v. St. Louis Blues (41-34-7, 5th Central)

The Blues are going to need to find a way to control Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews (34-71-105), and Brandon Saad (32-57-89). Vladimir Tarasenko (45-36-81) will try and match Chicago’s firepower, while Jake Allen (23-18-4, 2.39, .909) will have his work cut out for him.

Minnesota Wild (50-29-3, 3rd Central) v. Dallas Stars (48-25-9, 2nd Central)

Devan Dubnyk (42-23-2, 2.14, .908) is looking for a signature series to cement his status as an elite goalie, while Jamie Benn (28-55-83) and Tyler Seguin (42-41-83) will try to continue the Stars’ resurgence.

Nashville Predators (42-35-5, 4th Central) v. LA Kings (52-23-7, 1st Pacific)

Last year’s Western Conference champs struggled at times this year, sneaking in as the last wild card. Jonathan Drouin (28-28-56) leads the offense, while Peter Laviolette has not announced whether Juuse Saros (15-15-2, 2.32, .902) or Anders Lindback (18-13-3, 2.57, .904) will be starting. They’ll be facing the league’s stingiest defense and penalty kill, led by Jonathan Quick and the surprising Tanner Pearson (26-44-70)

Arizona Coyotes (42-31-9, 3rd Pacific) v. Edmonton Oilers (46-30-6, 2nd Pacific)

This year’s biggest surprise, the Coyotes rode the strength of their young first liners Max Domi (27-27-54), Dylan Strome (12-30-42), and Clayton Keller (23-35-58) & new starting goalie Luis Domingue (24-13-4, 2.44, .910). Cam Talbot (42-26-5, 2.43, .915) continues to be a workhorse for the Oilers, who look for strong contributions from Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatl (37-40-77), and a player considered to be the best free agent signing of 2017, Jussi Jokinen, who scored 17 goals and dished out 38 assists in his age-34 season after signing a $1.1M contract on the eve of the regular season.

DOWN ON THE FARM
Bridgeport finished the AHL season on the outside of the playoff race, finishing 37-37-2. There were some bright spots - Connor Jones led the team in scoring (18-31-49), and Tanner Fritz had 25 goals to lead the squad. Michael Dal Colle showed a lot of improvement in his second year in the AHL (16-19-35), and undrafted college free agent John Stevens held his own in his first professional season (13-25-38). Worcester, meanwhile, suffered through a disastrous 12-53-7 season. There weren’t many highlights, but midseason addition Matt Gaudreau (4-6-10, 33 GP) and offseason signing Viktor Crus Rydberg (9-17-26, 50 GP) showed some potential to become key depth pieces for the organization in the future. Kieffer Bellows put up a 32-41-73 line for Portland in the WHL, and was named the WHL’s player of the month for March along the way. D prospect David Quenneville scored 16 goals and had 57 points for Medicine Hat in the same league. The most intriguing prospects in the organization finished their years as strong as they started - CSKA Moscow’s Ilya Sorokin went 17-5-0 in his 22 starts, had a 0.96 GAA, and an otherworldly .954 SV%; HV71’s Linus Soderstrom had a 26-8-3, 2.05 GAA, and .930 SV% in what many think is his last year before coming over from Sweden.