Islanders Open 2021-22 Season as Oldest Team in the NHL
As the 2021-22 season begins for the New York Islanders in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Islanders will open the 2021-22 season as the oldest team in the NHL.
The New York Islanders have an average age of 29.65. On the other hand, the Columbus Blue Jackets have the youngest team in the NHL, followed by the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.
The Islanders’ old roster is not something the team is unfamiliar with. The Islanders entered the 2020 postseason with the oldest roster in the NHL, with an average age of 28.9 years old.
It is not surprising the Islanders have the oldest roster in the NHL. This past offseason, the Islanders brought in numerous depth pieces to bolster their roster. The Islanders brought in Zach Parise and Zdeno Chara. The Islanders also re-signed core players Kyle Palmieri, Anthony Beauvillier, Ilya Sorokin, Adam Pelech and Andy Greene.
The Islanders are not currently rebuilding, so they do not have an influx of young players. However, the Islanders’ roster each year is only going to keep getting older, indicating that the Islanders are in win-now mode. But this win-now mode will not last forever. The players on the Islanders’ roster will continue to age and will eventually decline in performance.
In the past three seasons, the Islanders have advanced past the first round and they have advanced to the Stanley Cup Semifinals in the last two. The Islanders were the only team last postseason to push the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Game 7.
Moreover, in the Islanders’ previous three seasons, the team has only lost a total of three games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Those three losses would not even be enough to eliminate them if they occurred in a single series.
The Islanders’ window to win a Stanley Cup will not last forever. They have to make the most of their opportunities while they have this current core.
As the core ages, their window to win will only become smaller and smaller. The Islanders must find a way to get the job done, as they are a true Stanley Cup Contender.
Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.
