2026-2027 NHL team preview: New York Islanders
from Daily Faceoff (Frank Seravalli),
A top pick, let alone one that wasn’t earned through the humiliation of a 60-point season, was always going to send a jolt through a proud, frustrated fan base like the Islanders’. Still, no one knew just how lucky New York had really gotten until the puck dropped on the 2025-26 season. Most experts agreed that consensus top player Matthew Schaefer, the speedy defenseman Darche and Co. picked first at the 2025 NHL Draft, did not have the transformative, franchise-saving ceiling projected for recent top picks Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard. That thesis went out the window sometime in October.
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