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New York Islanders 2026-2027 Season Preview: Can DeBoer Unlock Super Sorokin? · Jablam Sports Hockey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Jablam Sports Hockey, your home for everything happening around the NHL.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Peter Boyjaranov, and every episode we break down the biggest topics all fans are hot talking about with writers, TV, and radio experts from all 32 teams.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're still doing our season previews with the New York Islanders.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've got on the show Gil Martin.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's the host of Locked On Islanders Podcast.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show, Gil.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Great to be here.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And in trending now, we'll talk about a little bit of preseason action and another guy getting the captaincy.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's drop the puck.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, last season the New York Islanders were fifth in a weaker Metropolitan division missing the playoffs.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't been in the playoffs in three years and not into the second round since back-to-back conference finals in 2021.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: What needs to happen for this team to be a playoff team and maybe go a couple of rounds this year, Gil?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: It won't be easy this year, mainly because the roster has mostly stayed the same, where a lot of the teams in the Eastern Conference, who the Islanders would be battling for playoff position with, have added, you know, different pieces to their rosters.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: But what it would take is A, certainly staying healthier than last year when you had Kyle Palmeri and Alexander Romanov missing more than half the season.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: B you would need Matthew Schaeffer to continue to make progress and be an elite player.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the other thing is that the structure that Peter Debore is going to introduce to this team, A, cuts down on the high danger chances against, which the Islanders were near to the bottom of the league in last year.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that hopefully allows Ilya Sorokin to be less exhausted, uh less run down late in the season.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, then maybe the fact that he's trying to change the way the power play works.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Power play was 30th in the NHL last year.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: If they could even get it up into the low 20s, that could make a big difference on this team.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned it.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't make any major moves, but he did pick up Matias Michelli on a one-year deal at 2.25.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: He has shown that he has flashes of being a good playmaker.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Where does he fit in this lineup and how could he contribute?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the thing about the Islanders lineup is that they don't have six top six forwards.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it wouldn't shock me if he sees time on the top line at some point during the year if he's playing well.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I think most of the year he's a middle six guy.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, he's a setup guy.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's like a 15 goal 40 assist player when he's hitting on all cylinders.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, you know, if you could team him maybe with uh uh a finisher, whether it's Kyle Palmeri or Bo Horvat, uh, and maybe on the second power play unit, he would be in a position to help get the puck to other players who could finish.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Anders, you mentioned not so great in offense, but they were eighth best in goals allowed, and goaltender Ilya Sorokin was third in saves made above expected.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: What's it gonna take for fans outside of Long Island to realize he is a top five bully in the NHL?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you would think they would in two of the last three years.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's been a Vesina finalist.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: He was second in the voting last year.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, what it would take really is more team success, I think.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when your team doesn't make the playoffs and hasn't won a playoff round since 2021, you're not gonna get as much national attention.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: But if you watch Ilias Orokin game in and game out, you realize the Islanders last year, now Patrick Wall was the coach last year.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: He did not have a lot of defensive structure.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: He was more trying to be run and gun and have the defensemen press and get involved in the offense.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And the result was, as you said, you know, third lowest, uh, you know, third highest high danger chances allowed.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: And for a lot of the season, they were dead last in that category.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but team success, I think, is what stands between Ilya Sorokin and more recognition.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: We mentioned they need better offense.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Their overall was bottom 10 in the league, and they also lost their captain, Anders Lee, in free agency.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Where can they find some more offense from in this team?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: It won't be easy.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, okay, you're getting Kyle Palmeri back healthy.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: He should be good for 15 to 20 goals if he stays healthy for the season.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Braden Shen over a full season should roughly match the numbers we saw from Anders Lee last year, which was you know 19 goals, about 45 points.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I could see Shen, you know, matching that couple of goals or points higher or lower.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but overall, I I think it's gonna be more structural.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the the player that the young player who has the best chance of making this team is Victor Eklund, who was one of the three first-round picks last year.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: He has looked really good in training camp and in the first preseason game.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, maybe he could help you a little bit with the offense and certainly with the four check, but it it's really gonna be stay healthy and just be better in situations like the power play that's gonna try to boost this offense.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Calder winner, the bright spot on this Islanders, and last year's first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, was tremendous last year.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Where could we see his game developed this season?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And is he already a top 10 defender in the league?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the uh one of the polls, I forget whether it was the athletic or nhl.com, had him ranked seventh among defensemen in the entire league after one season.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think, look, you can quibble, okay, he should have been fifth or ninth or what, but I I think that's ballpark correct.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, look, obviously he just turned 19 earlier this month.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: He needs to get stronger.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: He did work on adding some muscle to his body over the offseason, and maybe be a little more consistent in his own zone, uh, is the thing that he needs to work on.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: But he has great vision, great speed, great hockey sense.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: He he goes to the net more than most of the Islanders forwards, you know.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's too many of them stay on the perimeter too often.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: And Matthew Schaefer just goes to the net, especially on the power play.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I I mean, just I think getting a little more comfortable and and being able to be a little more physical and more consistent in his own zone, if he can do that and just keep doing what he's been doing offensively, uh I mean, uh, no, no doubt he could take another step forward.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, on that, uh, next summer Schaefer could you know be available for an extension already.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Could we see easily an above 16 million or higher for him next summer?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: It depends.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it I think it'll depend on the length of the deal.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: If he's giving up unrestricted free agent years, then maybe we do see something close to the 14, 15, 16 million dollar range.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: But if it's just a bridge deal, if it's a three-year deal or a four-year deal, maybe we're talking closer to 12 to 15 million.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: They named Bo Horvat the New Islanders captain.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why is he deserving over some of the others?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think first of all, he has experience.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: He was a captain in Vancouver, so that certainly works in his favor.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: You look at some of the other potential choices.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Braden Shen only played 20 somewhat games as an islander, so he really hasn't been there long enough.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew Barzal, who's been there long enough, just doesn't seem to come across as as much of a leader as Horvat does.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then some of the other veterans who have been there a while were not sure how much longer they'll be there.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Casey Sazikas is in the last year of his contract.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Kyle Palmeri is in the last year of his contract.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I think Horvat has that combination of experience, leadership, leadership experience, and you know he's gonna be here for a while.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Gil, do you have a hot take for this Islanders team this year?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think that this Islanders team stays competitive for the playoffs for most of the season, but I just think they're gonna fall short because there's just a lack of offensive firepower.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: But the hot take is this Peter Debore will be the best friend Ilya Sorokin has had in a long time.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: He will help reduce those high danger chances against with his defense and his structure, and this team will be top five in goals against in the league.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Great to hear.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Time for some trending now.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Anheim Ducks named Ford Mikhail Grenland as their 10th captain in franchise history on Tuesday.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: The preseason started, as hockey fans have been peppering and excited for.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yet it is going to be short, but the new guys, the new guys are looking good.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bowen Bynum for Chicago gets a hat trick, and Brady Kachuk and William Eklund score the first goal in their games.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Gil, how often does preseason success translate to regular season?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: It translates sometimes.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's more accurate for veterans than for uh younger players.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Look, I mean, a preseason game is not the same as a regular season game.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: You roughly have half, usually half of the roster is prospects and players who are going to be either back in juniors or in the AHL or the ECHL.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a level up from, let's say, a rookie scrimmage, but it's not quite an NHL regular season game.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think the more experienced the player is, the more there is a correlation between preseason success and regular season success.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Does look like the Blackhawks are excited to have Bynum, though.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see about that.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this episode.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Gil, thanks for joining me.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Fans, remember to subscribe to the show in your listening app.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have any questions, follow us on X at Jablam Sports.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.