{"id":381619,"date":"2026-01-01T12:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T12:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/381619\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T12:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T12:43:11","slug":"new-york-islanders-2025-in-review-mid-decade-sea-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/381619\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Islanders 2025 in Review: Mid-decade sea change"},"content":{"rendered":"

The calendar year 2025 for the New York Islanders comes to a close in a jarringly different state compared to one year ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead of being a drifting, dull team guided by a GM that seemed\u2026stuck in neutral, they are now a more entertaining (if risky) team, with new life, in the thick of a playoff race with a conference that has helpfully descended to a similar level of okay-edness around them.<\/p>\n

This year will always go down as the transition point from the league\u2019s oldest GM to one of its youngest. It will always be remembered for the beginning of the Matthew Schaefer era.<\/p>\n

But for posterity, here are the significant turning points from 2025 that have the next year looking far more interesting, to say the least.<\/p>\n

The first sign of a looming transition was one that Lou Lamoriello did not want, one that he fought until the end: Trading Brock Nelson instead of getting his agreement on a long-term extension. The details of whether the sticking point was money, term or setting were never revealed, but you have to wonder if Nelson knew in his heart that now \u2014 and elsewhere \u2014 was his best chance at contending. The aging roster and wheel-spinning that was becoming the norm under Lamoriello did not elicit hope for the near future.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s arguably the best Islanders forward of his era<\/a>, and now he\u2019s living his best life with Devon Toews on a Cup contender in Colorado. Winnipeg reportedly pursued him hard but was not a destination he fancied.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, in what would become his final great act as GM, Lamoriello covered all the bases and fetched a top prospect \u2014 potential future Brock, Calum Ritchie, now a regular \u2014 and a (top-10 protected) first-round pick.<\/p>\n

Lou Lamoriello Departs\u2026Mostly<\/p>\n

The bombshell that was sought by many fans but expected by few: Lamoriello\u2019s contract \u201cwould not be renewed<\/a>.\u201d His time as GM would end. (His time with the franchise did not, as he was retained as an advisor to ownership \u2014 though that\u2019s apparently something that was always in his exit plan for Toronto and Long Island.)<\/p>\n

Former NHL exec and current ownership member John Collins, with all his connections, was set to lead the search for the new GM.<\/p>\n

History may hold that Lamoriello\u2019s best move was one of his very first: hiring Barry Trotz as head coach to bring his disciplined, structured approach, carrying an average-talented team to more playoff success than it had seen in more than two decades. The consecutive conference finals will be remembered most, but the way the roster brushed off the loss of John Tavares, made the playoffs and promptly swept the Pittsburgh Penguins was \u2014 in that moment at least \u2014 equally gratifying.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that\u2019s all in the past, and it wasn\u2019t papering over two playoff misses and two first-round losses in the final four years of Lamoriello\u2019s tenure. It was time.<\/p>\n

Mathieu Darche (and Fun) Arrives<\/p>\n

Apparently it could\u2019ve been Ken Holland, if only he\u2019d agreed.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it would\u2019ve been Marc Bergevin.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case and the sequence, the Isles dodged at least one bullet when they landed Mathieu Darche instead. There would not be a much-rumored one-president, another GM setup. Just Darche, at the head<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Immediately, the team became more accessible. Behind-the-scenes video was possible again. Facial hair, non-military cuts and non 1-31 uniform numbers, too.<\/p>\n

But more importantly, there was a fresh approach, a modernized\/expanded staff and a realistic look at the roster and the near future.<\/p>\n

Noah Dobson is Traded for Picks and a Guy You Don\u2019t Trade<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t trade a guy like Emil Heineman\u2026but the Canadiens did.<\/p>\n

Okay, in truth, Heineman felt like a throw-in to Darche\u2019s first major decision, that of trading Noah Dobson<\/a> rather than give him the long-term top-dollar contract he sought.<\/p>\n

But once he made that calculation, Darche got himself some serious assets, including Heineman, who\u2019s a Swiss Army knife with a sizzling shot, producing 12 goals, 18 points and a couple of decisive shootout winners in his first 40 games as an Islander. Montreal\u2019s two mid-first-round picks (16 and 17) were ammo to possibly trade down \u2014 alas, Boston wouldn\u2019t bite \u2014 but ended up getting the Islanders a couple of very good prospects<\/a> anyway.<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer Changes Everything<\/p>\n

Darche arrived already knowing the Islanders had won the lottery<\/a>. John Collins had one job and he did it. {\/tinfoil}<\/p>\n

He and the staff didn\u2019t overthink the pick, but Bossy almighty did the top prospect turn out better and sooner than anyone imagined. After a junior season shortened by illness and injury, Schaefer\u2019s 17 games in 2024-25 gave some pause about what kind of first-overall pick he might be.<\/p>\n

But immediately upon landing in training camp, his skating and decision-making had observers in awe. It wasn\u2019t a question of whether he would make the opening roster, or if he\u2019d stick around beyond nine games \u2014 it became a question of how big of a role he would grab and how much the Isles could lean on him in his rookie year.<\/p>\n

Through the first half season, the answer is a lot. A lot. They started conservatively, pairing him with Scott Mayfield on the third pair. But he quickly escaped that, began logging key power play minutes and consuming all the minutes on a pairing with Ryan Pulock and Whoever Else is Fresh.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mention: Fountain of Youth<\/p>\n

Not a pivotal story for 2025, maybe not even a real one \u2014 or maybe heavily influenced by the presence of 18-year-old Schaefer: Several Islanders who are closer to the end than the beginning are having revival seasons.<\/p>\n

Anders Lee (35) and J-G Pageau (33) are not lighting it up, but they are productive and {knock on wood} halthy through the first half of the season. Bo Horvat (30) is off to a blazing start that does not hint at imminent decline.<\/p>\n

On the blueline, \u201cthe Cobra\u201d version of Adam Pelech has returned as he logs minutes and gobbles up opponent passes.<\/p>\n

And Ilya Sorokin \u2014 though managing a nagging injury as the calendar turns \u2014 has put in several sterling performances, no doubt aided by the Islanders\u2019 ability to confidently put David Rittich (10-4-2, .918) into a regular backup rotation.<\/p>\n

All of which has helped the Islanders be far more competitive than pretty much anyone though they could or would be in the second half of the year 2025. Whether that continues in 2026 and ends up in a wild card or even regular playoff (or even home-ice advantage??) spot is, of course, an unknown that is why we watch the games.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, thankfully, right now it\u2019s actually fun to do so.<\/p>\n

Thanks, everybody for reading and commenting and sharing and joking along with us here at Lighthouse Hockey. Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The calendar year 2025 for the New York Islanders comes to a close in a jarringly different state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[186217,385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-381619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey-editorial","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}