ESPN+ or Hulu might be worthwhile investments for Islanders’ fans.

The Disney-owned company that now partially owns NHL broadcasting rights in the U.S. announced their season schedule on Thursday. The Islanders will play eight games on the ESPN networks, with six on ESPN+, the network’s subscription service. They will play four more on TNT.

This seems like a significant increase considering how little regular-season TV exposure the Islanders got under NBC. Until 2020-21, when the network planned to cover 10 Islanders games, they were notorious for their lack of Isles coverage. For example, they only scheduled two games in 2019-2020 after the Islanders reached the Second Round of the playoffs the previous season.

But these developments aren’t great either. Being featured eight times on ESPN is nothing special this year. The network did a good job of giving all the state-side teams equal exposure. It just means fans will have to pay up to watch six games they would’ve been entitled to pretty much every year before.

One Marquee Matchup on ESPN+

If ESPN is going to make fans pay for its coverage, they should at least cover good games. Of the six games the Islanders play on ESPN+, I’d only consider one a marquee matchup: April 28 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the final one of the season. The Islanders are scheduled against Columbus twice, Seattle, Los Angeles and Florida for the other five. Florida and Seattle might be exciting, but the Florida game is early in the season (the final game of the 13-game season-opening road trip) and nobody knows how Seattle will perform in their first NHL season.

The Seattle game will also be competing with a divisional matchup between Colorado and Chicago that starts only an hour and a half earlier. As an NHL fan, I’d rather tune into the third period of that game at 10 p.m. over the Isles and Kraken.

However, the Islanders get two primetime, marquee matchups on ESPN. The first game comes against the Blackhawks on Oct. 19 for Chicago’s home-opener. It could be Marc-Andre Fleury’s first home start in red and black. More importantly for Isles fans, they face off against Washington on April 26.

Nevertheless, the Islanders do not have a single game on ABC. The network will mostly air afternoon games on weekends later in the season, but it will feature non-playoff teams (from 2021) in seven of 10 of their games.

At Least We Have TNT

Three of the four Islanders games on TNT should be fun to watch. They’ll play an important game against Philadelphia on March 20 and another against New Jersey on April 3. The one to look forward to, however, is Islanders vs. Lightning on March 27. It will be the first time the Lightning play on Long Island since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

The network also announced that they hired Brendan Burke as their number two play-by-play announcer, meaning he could call these important games.

In TNT’s case, the Islanders having four national games is significant. Most Stanley Cup contenders have five games, so this is good news for the team’s prestige.

Where Are the Rivalries?

The Islanders made some enemies during the 2021 playoffs, but NHL fans will only get to see the team’s rematches against the Lightning on national TV. No network scheduled any games against the Bruins or Penguins, the two teams the Islanders beat to reach the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

They also have no games scheduled against the Rangers – the Islanders’ in-state rivals – as well as the Carolina Hurricanes or Toronto Maple Leafs.

In fact, a third of the nationally televised games come against west coast teams (with two games at 10 p.m.), and less than half are against divisional opponents (including two against Columbus who will likely finish last in the Metropolitan Division).

Sure, two games against the Lightning is great, but the Islanders were good before they faced off with the eventual Stanley Cup champions in the Semifinals.

It’s frustrating that the Rangers, who didn’t even make the playoffs last year, have three games on ABC against – you guessed it – Pittsburgh, Tampa and Boston. They will be important games, but why not schedule games for the team that’s made the final four in back-to-back years?

Sure, the mere exposure is a significant improvement from previous seasons, but the Islanders are even better than they were a few years ago. They are arguably Stanley Cup favorites.

This schedule met Isles fans’ demands a few years ago, when the team was barely a playoff team, but now we deserve even more. But hey, at least this means Brendan Burke is on the call for some important games.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.