{"id":564157,"date":"2026-05-01T11:33:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/564157\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:33:43","slug":"3-urgent-questions-new-york-islanders-must-answer-in-2026-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/564157\/","title":{"rendered":"3 urgent questions New York Islanders must answer in 2026 offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Islanders (43-34-5)<\/a> were a frisky team the entire season with the emergence of 2025 No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer and a Vezina-caliber season from goaltender Ilya Sorokin. They were in a playoff spot heading into March, with a 34-21-5 record, placing them as one of the best three teams in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

More: Maple Leafs look to Mats Sundin to bring back \u2018pride\u2019 in Toronto, per Friedman<\/a><\/p>\n

As a result, the Islanders made an ill-advised trade with the St. Louis Blues for center Brayden Schenn. They gave up a package that included a first-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche to acquire Schenn, and while he regained some of his offensive game, the Islanders slumped after the trade.<\/p>\n

From March onward, they went 9-13-0, missing the playoffs. The Islanders moved on from head coach Patrick Roy for accomplished head coach Peter DeBoer, showing they could build their roster to compete for the 2026-27 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the offseason.<\/p>\n

What do the Islanders re-sign Anders Lee to?<\/p>\n

\"\"Mar 17, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) skates during the warmup before a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

More: Oilers coach explains Connor Ingram gamble that paid off in Game 5 win<\/a><\/p>\n

The Islanders have a major financial decision to make with their 35-year-old captain. Lee has been through thick and thin in an Islanders uniform, approaching game No. 1000 with the team, but his seven-year, $49 million contract expires this season. General manager Mathieu Darche was non-committal, albeit hopeful, when asked about retaining Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Anders I\u2019d love to see him play his 1,000th game with the Islanders,\u201d Darche said to the New York Post<\/a>. \u201cWhat that looks like, whether we were able to find something that\u2019s suitable for us and for him, we\u2019ll discuss. But I know he\u2019s not far from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darche showed a hard line in contract negotiations before, which is what happened with defenseman Noah Dobson, now with the Montreal Canadiens<\/a>. It\u2019s unknown what his line will be on Lee, but it will certainly be lower than the $7 million annually Lee was making on his past deal.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d imagine negotiations start a two-to-three-year deal worth between $4-5 million annually, similar to Lee\u2019s teammate, Kyle Palmieri. However, with the salary cap rising, it might be more difficult. The Islanders need to do right by Lee, though.<\/p>\n

Do the Islanders re-sign Tony DeAngelo?<\/p>\n

\"\"Apr 9, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo (77) plays the puck against Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Nicholas Robertson (89) during the first period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The other major free agency decision comes on the blue line. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo, despite the baggage in his career, made the most of his second chance with the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n

In his first full campaign with the team, he was productive, with 35 points in 76 games. He also averaged around 19 minutes per night of playing time.<\/p>\n

More: Buffalo crowd sings \u2018O Canada\u2019 in powerful moment after mic failure<\/a><\/p>\n

The Islanders signed DeAngelo to a steal of a deal, at just $1.75 million. However, they\u2019ll need to give DeAngelo a raise for him to stay.<\/p>\n

AFP Analytics<\/a> suggests the defenseman should get a $2.13 million contract, but he could strive for more in a poor free agency crop. Are the Islanders willing to pay that? Prospect Isaiah George has NHL experience under his belt, so do they let DeAngelo walk to give George more minutes?<\/p>\n

How do the Islanders address their goal-scoring issues?<\/p>\n

\"\"Jan 29, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Islanders right wing Max Shabanov (49) and New York Islanders center Kyle MacLean (32) celebrates the goal by New York Islanders defenseman Carson Soucy (4) against the New York Rangers during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Islanders are a tough team to play against, but to reach true Stanley Cup contention, they\u2019ll need more goal-scoring, especially from the top six.<\/p>\n

Bo Horvat was the only player on the team to reach over 30 goals, and he was just one of three (Matthew Schaefer, Emil Heineman) to cross the 20-goal mark. <\/p>\n

More: Chris Kreider\u2019s \u2018ruthless\u2019 hit on Leon Draisaitl sparks fan call for \u2018hearing<\/a><\/p>\n

To be fair to them, they didn\u2019t get a whole season of Brayden Schenn and Kyle Palmieri. Schenn was a trade deadline acquisition who scored six goals in 19 games, while Palmieri played just 25 games before suffering a torn ACL. Palmieri had scored over 20 goals each of the past two seasons before this one.<\/p>\n

Still, they could use a guy to pair with Horvat and Barzal on the first line. Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch fits that bill, but the Sabres will try to extend him, and if not, he\u2019ll be a top target in free agency. <\/p>\n

The Islanders could dig into their pick and prospect pool to get a top-line winger via trade. They need to take advantage of Matthew Schaefer still being on his entry-level contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Islanders (43-34-5) were a frisky team the entire season with the emergence of 2025 No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[144,5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,84,8],"class_list":["post-564157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-islanders","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-hockey","tag-islanders","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkislanders","tag-nhl","tag-st-louis-blues","tag-stanley-cup-playoff"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116499108048590941","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}