Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Ahead of Saturday night’s win, I polled our social media followers to find out what they wanted to see more of as fans: a playoff push or a sell-off/retool.
These polls are very unscientific, but with 631 votes, 62.8% of fans said they prefer a sell-off or retool to a playoff push the rest of the way.
My gut tells me that’s about right.
When examining these two choices, you must consider the best and worst-case scenarios. Realistically, the best-case scenario for the Islanders is to climb over eight teams (after the Flyers win last night) and be the second Wild Card. That earns you a match-up with the top seed in the Eastern Conference and a chance to be the latest bottom seed to catch fire at precisely the right time to make a run.
The worst-case is not that the Islanders fall apart and finish in last place in the Metro (where they currently reside). If that happens, Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri and others should be on the move. No, it’s that they play well enough, long enough, to remain in contention to the point that GM Lou Lamoriello feels obligated to stand pat or even add when the moment calls them to be sellers.
