For the last seven weeks, we have been writing Islanders Player Grade articles. With training camp officially starting yesterday and the postseason less than three weeks away, let’s take a look back at our series!
We graded each player in a unique way. Here was our grading format:

• First, we took into account the player’s expectations coming into the season. How much is he being paid? What is his role? How important is he for the success of the New York Islanders?
• Then, we looked at the impact the player made this season. For his role, how did he do? Did he exceed his preseason expectations, or fail to produce at the level expected of him? Without him, where would the team be?
• Finally, we took everything into account, from his best moment to his low point, and compiled a fair score from 1-100.

This guidelines made it so that a player like Mat Barzal, widely regarded as the best player on the team, would not automatically be at the top of the list. We wanted to take into account a player’s skills, role and opportunity and assess all factors.
Our grading system created an interesting dichotomy between certain players, some of which are explained below:

• For example, obviously Ross Johnston is not a better hockey player than Anders Lee, but when taking into account their preseason expectations, Johnston earned a better score. Johnston came into the season as a depth forward and wound up playing top-line minutes. Lee is coming off a seven-year, $49 million extension and failed to find the net as frequently as he usually does.
• Casey Cizikas and Adam Pelech, two of the more under-appreciated players on the team, earned very high scores. While they are not stars, they master their roles perfectly and when they were injured, the Islanders faltered.
• Players like Cole Bardreau, Kieffer Bellows and Jean-Gabriel Pageau only played a few games each, but they made huge impacts and exceeded expectations. That is why they earned higher scores than some players who were with the team the whole season.

So, the time has finally come. Here is our full Islanders Player Grade list:

David Lazar