Isle Be Damned: the Islanders have the Worst Top 6 Forward Group in the NHL
The New York Islanders have the worst top 6 forward group in the NHL. Look around the NHL: teams are built with speed, skill, and depth. Depth, however, is a word poorly defined in the fat head of New York Islanders GM Garth Snow. Snow has fielded a team this year with a plethora of 3rd and 4th line quality forwards, sprinkled in with proven goal scorer Andrew Ladd, who at this point Capuano has on a line with two NHL fourth liners — two young, streaky, Minnesota born goal scorers in Anders Lee and Brock Nelson, and an underperforming superstar in John Tavares. Put these four players, mixed in with any two forwards in the Capuano “work hahd and smaht, or you won’t play” group that you choose, and tell me those 6 forwards are better than the best 6 forwards of any other NHL team right now. I’ll break it down division by division to really show you the problem with the New York Islanders.
Metro
Carolina
One of the teams you could possibly make an argument for. However, a grouping of Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Lee Stempniak, and Jordan Stall overall beats out the Isles top 6 grouping, aside from at the very top. In fact, a guy like Lee Stempniak would have been a great fallback option for the Isles this past summer (plan A being Steven Stamkos), but Garth Snow felt pressured and gave the big bucks out to Andrew Ladd.
Columbus
Although I am a believer in the “Columbus will cool off” bandwagon, arguing they have a worse top 6 than the Isles would be comical. A forward group led by captain Nick Foligno probably has 8 or 9 guys I would take over the current top 6 forwards for the Isles. 6 current Blue Jacket forwards have over 24 points on the season thus far compared to the two Isles forwards who currently do. One of these Isles’ players is NOT a top 6 forward on almost any other team (Josh Bailey).
NJ Devils
For a team that seems to lack scoring punch, the top 6 grouping for the Devils has put up points significantly exceeding that of the isles. Led by Taylor Hall, two quality 2nd line centers in Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac, and a winger grouping that includes veterans like Mike Cammalleri, Kyle Palmieri, and, oh, a guy named P.A. Parenteau, the Devils top 6 is also better than that of the Islanders.
Philadelphia Flyers
Although overall I’d take John Tavares over Claude Giroux, the names Voracek, Simmonds, and Schenn are a hell of a lot more intimidating than Ladd, Nelson, Lee, Bailey, and Strome.
NY Rangers/Pittsburgh Penguins/Washington Capitals
I’m not even going to waste my time here. The comparisons are laughable.
Atlantic
Boston Bruins
Not much of an argument here. Bergeron, Marchand, Backes, not to mention current 19 goal scorer David Pastrnak, accompanied by guys like David Krejci and Ryan Spooner prevail over any Isles grouping.
Buffalo Sabres
All-star selection and former Islander Kyle Okposo leads the way here. Having a guy as talented as Jack Eichel, mixed in with veterans like Ryan O’Reilly, captain Brian Gionta, and former fan favorite Matty Moulson (not to mention Evander Kane and young winger Sam Reinhart) helps Buffalo prevail in this matchup.
Detroit Red Wings
If you were to look at the stat sheet, you would think Detroit is led by captain Henrik Zetterberg and two former veteran Isles in Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen, but drops off after wards. However, this drop-off is simply due to underperforming players. Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, and Dylan Larkin are all too talented to be under .5 points per game kind of players. Not to mention young stud Anthony Mantha has been pretty good this season. You could definitely argue a few Isles would make this grouping, but wouldn’t be more than two or three. I’d take Detroit.
Florida Panthers
The banged up Panthers, when healthy, have a much better top 6 then the Islanders. Even without the injured Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau, you could still probably argue that Florida’s top 6 is still better. Sasha Barkov, the never-aging Jaromir Jagr, Vinny Trocheck, Reilly Smith, and breakout forward Jonathan Marchessault could still keep pace with the Isles forward grouping. Let that sink in.
Montreal Canadiens
Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, and Tomas Plekanec would all be the 2nd best forwards on the isles. Okay, maybe you could argue Brock Nelson and Anders Lee over Tomas Plekanec, but the fact that you even need to think about that should alarm you, Isles fans.
Ottawa Senators
The Sens have a top six group up front that I is very underrated. Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Mike Hoffman, Derek Brassard, even with one of the more overrated players in the league in Bobby Ryan and any other forward you may choose, they would beat out the Isles. People seem surprised by the success Ottawa has had this year, but aside from stud Erik Karlsson, the top 6 truly carries the Sens and deserves a lot of this credit.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Isles fans, we learned this answer in round two of the playoffs last year. Even without Steven Stamkos, the top 6 is still more dangerous than the Isles’.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Jack Capuano and Garth Snow should take note here. Look what happens when you give top prospects top 6 minutes under a good coach at a young age. Not being scratched every other game for missing a check in the minors helps tremendously. But once again, the Isles lose this matchup, as Auston Matthews is already proving how elite he will be for years to come. Also having young studs like Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and guys like JVR, Kadri, and Bozak to help the kids out prevails over likely anyone except John Tavares.
Western Conference- Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Kane, Toews, Panarin, Hossa, Anisimov. You can give me 10 Isles against these 5 and it would probably still be a close game. Next.
Colorado Avalanche
Although the overall team itself may not be better then the isles, the top 6 forwards currently (barring no trades) on the team are still better then those of the Isles. Isles fans have been clamoring for GM Garth Snow to overpay for a player like Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog. Although I am strongly against this, I would take these two, as well as Nate MacKinnon, young stud Mikko Rantanen, and veteran Jarome Iginla over, once again, any Islander forward not named John Tavares.
Dallas Stars
Led by the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, I would also take the Dallas top 6 grouping over the isles. Complimenting these two stars with Jason Spezza, Patrick Eaves, and a cup-winning veteran in Patrick Sharp beats what the Islanders have to offer.
Minnesota Wild
A group consisting of Eric Stall, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Mikku Koivu, Jason Sucker, Nino Niederreiter, yet to even mention veterans Zach Parise and Jason Pominville not only blows the Isles group out of the water, but leaves Minnesota as a cup favorite when combined with the superb goaltending of Devan Dubnyk.
Nashville Predators
Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Mike Fisher, and Mike Ribeiro, accompanied with young guns Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg, beats the Isles top 6 out.
St. Louis Blues
Although they are built from the blue line out, the Blues top 6 of Tarasenko, Fabbri, Steen, Stastny, Schwartz, and Perron beats out the Isles with skill, experience, and grit.
Winnipeg Jets
The young and talented Winnipeg forward group also beats the Islanders. Led by 18-year old rookie Patrik Laine, who as a rookie could do a lot worse then being surrounded by guys like Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, and veteran Bryan Little.
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks/San Jose Sharks
Saving myself the time with these two teams.
Arizona Coyotes
Finally! A team you can, well, kind of debate. At first glance, the stats would show that Arizona has no elite offensive talent on this year’s team. However, there is some talent on this team that isn’t often seen when you are arguably the worst team in the league. Now, I would take John Tavares, and right now, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson over anyone on Arizona. However, after those 3, it gets interesting. Radim Vrbata, Tobias Rieder, injured Max Domi, Martin Hanzal, and the beloved Shane Doan could be argued over any of the remaining New York Islander players (aside from if Andrew Ladd was to be given a chance on a legitimate skill line where he could prove his offensive abilities, aka on John Tavares’ wing.) If you are valuing a top 6 off the top, I will admit the Isles may be better here. But the argument is there. As a die-hard fan of the Isles, this is a scary argument to face because in reality, it’s pretty darn close right now. Who would have said that 7 months ago?
Calgary Flames
Overall, I would take Calgary’s group. Rookie Matthew Tkachuk looks like a stud in the making, joining a group already filled with talents like Johnny Hockey, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, and some veterans like Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund.
Edmonton
One of the few teams in the NHL that may beat the Isles 1–6. Some guy named McDavid has 48 points in 42 game son the year, followed up by Leon Draisaitl, Milan Lucic, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Patrick Maroon.
LA Kings
Led by veteran Jeff Carter, the Kings would also take the isles top 6 down soundly. Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli, the underachieving Anze Kopitar, paired up with some cup winning vets take the Isles down.
Vancouver Canucks
Last, but not least, the Vancouver Canucks. Since the debate is for this season, I would take Vancouver’s top 6. As a fan of hockey, no matter how old they are, the Sedins could play on my team any day of the week. However, looking at the future, Vancouver has a lot of question marks up front. For now, though, the Sedin’s, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Loui Eriksson, and Brandon Sutter are enough to take down the Isles best six.
In the end, you can obviously debate a few of these, even though as a pessimistic Isles fan, this is tough for me to see. Teams like Arizona, Carolina, and Vancouver are the teams we want to be compared to, eh Isles fans? Isn’t is scary how I didn’t even need to break down the rosters of the Rangers, Penguins, Caps, Sharks, and Ducks, and could have easily done this for a few others because there is simply no debate? How can you expect a team to be good if they can’t even come close to matching up against the league’s best? Congrats, they got hot at the end of last season and in all likelihood overachieved as a team, took a step backwards this offseason, and fell even farther behind those teams. Now, this predicament is on Garth Snow. The Islanders must rid themselves of a roster constructed with 11 3rd and 4th line players, an AHL coach, and having no 1A option to captain John Tavares.
Want to know what depth is Garth Snow? Actually, better yet, want to know the value of depth? Depth takes you the extra mile, but elite skill and talent gets you there. The impact of a 1st or 2nd line player versus a 3rd or 4th line player is like comparing a hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and myself. Chestnut could reach a level I can’t even come close to reaching, because he is simply better. But, if the contest were total hotdogs eaten by a team, Joey’s 70 added with my 4 is better then Joey’s 70 by himself. To further understand this, if Joey Chestnut were to have a “bad day” and only eat 40 hot dogs, he would still “outscore” me. That, to me, defines the value of “depth.”
Just ask Pittsburgh or Chicago. The average hockey fan couldn’t name 50% of the 3rd and 4th line players for either of these teams. But because of the elite talent up top, who cares? These players, who are considered no names by many, have cups — some have multiple. Why? Because when you can play 10–12 hard and gritty minutes behind talents like Kane, Toews, Panarin, Hossa, Keith Seabrook, and then Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Letang, and Kunitz, it becomes that much easier.
Garth Snow, we need top 6 talent. Not depth. Fix this.
