The 2021 NHL Season is likely on the way sooner rather than later, and the Islanders have a lot of work to do in terms of transactions and assembling their roster for opening night. The Isles are one of the most unique teams in the NHL in which they aren’t a top team due to their talent, but due to their coaching and teamwork, where everyone has a role to construct a well-oiled machine. They aren’t like Edmonton, or even like Washington, in terms of pure skill from the top players winning hockey games. In this article, we will highlight specific Islanders players that will be crucial to their success next year. We refrained from including their top players (Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock, Brock Nelson, and Adam Pelech) and young guns expected to make an impact (Oliver Wahlstrom, Noah Dobson, Kieffer Bellows, and Ilya Sorokin) because it is more obvious how they will have to perform for the Islanders to succeed. In this piece, we take a deeper dive into the roster and examine those players’ importance.

1. Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Jean-Gabriel Pageau has become a fan favorite on the Island in a matter of months and has the potential to be one of the best trade acquisitions in Islander history.

Last season and the Return to Play were only a glimpse of what’s to come for #44. Pageau scored eight goals in 22 games during the postseason and notched two points in his first seven regular-season games on the Island. To put it simply, Pageau is the perfect Islanders player. He’s great everywhere on the ice. He has a great shot, is a good face-off man and penalty killer, he’s physical for his size, and he’s one of the most complete players on the team. He is a dream of a third-line center with scoring touch, and Islander fans know that.

A full season of Pageau can make a significant difference. Last year, the Islanders were short a center for the majority of the season when Derick Brassard was moved to the wing, and the Casey Cizikas injury made it even worse. But, Pageau’s career-high in goals is 24, which was last season in 60 games. His second-highest in 19 in the 2015-16 season, but that was in a full 82-game span. His third highest was just 14 in the 2017-18 season, in 78 games. So the question remains- was Pageau’s success last year fluky or is he ready to take the next step in terms of offensive production consistently? We will have to wait and see, but Pageau’s performance can be indicative of how well the Islanders do next season.

2. Anthony Beauvillier

Anthony Beauvillier showed signs of breaking out in the playoffs and has the potential to explode next season if everything goes right. Beauvillier has been a key contributor to the middle six for as long as he’s been an Islander, and there’s a lot of upside to his game.

Beuavillier is very speedy. While he’s small, he is able to maneuver his way through body checks and defenders effectively. He is also one of the team’s best forecheckers, as he uses his energy in the corner to dig out a lot of pucks and it helps him and his linemates get to work in the offensive zone. While he isn’t primarily considered a two-way player, his defense has improved significantly under a Barry Trotz regime and outside of Mathew Barzal and their top prospects, Beauvillier has the highest potential ceiling for any Islanders forwards.

In the playoffs last year, Beauvillier showed so much progress. He became faster, more confident with the puck, and found his scoring touch. This year is the most important in his young career and will determine whether or not he will become a star or stay as a solid middle-six option. He’s certainly capable of the first.

3. Scott Mayfield

Scott Mayfield, at a towering 6’5″, is tied with Ross Johnston for being the tallest player on the Islanders. He played the majority of last season with Devon Toews on the second defensive pairing, but Toews was traded this offseason for draft picks. It is more than likely that Noah Dobson will fill that role and play with Mayfield.

Scott Mayfield is a stay-at-home defenseman. He’s physical, has a high defensive IQ, and uses his body and stick to keep pucks away from the front of the net. Devon Toews was a two-way defender, and at times, sacrificed defense for offensive rushes or blown defensive coverage. Mayfield does a nice job of covering for offensively-minded defensive partners. While Noah Dobson is supposed to be good at almost everything, he will make mistakes as a rookie defender playing top-four minutes in the National Hockey League.

By having a defensive defenseman like Mayfield paired with him, Noah Dobson has more room to make mistakes and take offensive chances, which is vital for his development. While Mayfield isn’t one of the older guys on the team, he will have to show some leadership to his projected defensive partner in Noah Dobson. The same can be said in the case of Andy Greene, but Mayfield not only has to continue his own solid defensive play but use it to better the players around him, Dobson in particular.

4. Semyon Varlamov

This year’s goaltending situation on the Island is quite interesting. If Ilya Sorokin pans out, he will likely take the starter role from Varlamov as soon as next season. However, it probably won’t start that way.

Semyon Varlamov had a great playoff run and was one of the Islanders’ MVPs. However, he was quite inconsistent in the regular season. He did wonderfully in a rotation with Thomas Griess but began to struggle when he completely took over the starting role. He finished the season with a .914% SV, but it was consistently in the .920s and .930s in the first half of the season, so his play saw a sharp decline.

This year, his spot is not as secure if Ilya Sorokin pans out. However, a 1A-1B goalie rotation makes sense. It has worked well with the Islanders under Trotz, and it has worked well with Varlamov. If Semyon Varlamov continues to play how he did in the playoffs and he can act as a mentor for Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders will have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. Also, if Sorokin has early struggles, the Islanders can always lean on Varlamov if they needed to, as long as he plays up to his capabilities and expectations.

5. Anders Lee

We are going to end this article with the captain. Lee got a fat contract last offseason for 7 years carrying a $7M annual cap hit. Many fans would argue that Lee had a disappointing season. His production was decent as he tallied 20 goals in 68 games, but it could have been so much better and it leaves the question of whether or not Lee is worth the money.

He’s had a 40 goal season before, as well as multiple in the high 30s. Last season was just a slightly down year. He has lost his hands in front of the net a little bit though, as he struggled to elevate pucks in tight like he used to. This doesn’t mean that he can’t get it back, as dry spells happen and perfection can’t be expected.

But, this next season for Lee is very important for himself and for the Isles. Lee has a chance to redeem himself this season with a few technical fixes, and his scoring would result in so much more production out of the first line and team offense as a whole. As the Islanders don’t have the cap space to go out and bring in a big goal scorer from free agency, Lee may have to take that role this upcoming season.

John Smark