In the 18th of a 32 part series leading up to the start of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season, we will look at the key off-season transactions made by all NHL organizations with an overall grade. Here are the New York Islanders.
The Islanders missed the playoffs last season under head coach Patrick Roy. Remarkably, they won the NHL Draft Lottery, and got the first overall pick in the NHL Draft. They decided on defenseman Matthew Schaefer of Hamilton, Ontario, who played last season with the Erie Otters. Let’s take a look at the five new players the Islanders are expected to have opening night on October 9 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jonathan Drouin
Drouin signed a two-year deal worth $8 million on Canada Day. The left winger from Ste-Agathe, Quebec is expected to be on the second line with Bo Horvat and Maxim Shabanov. Drouin is joining his fourth NHL team after playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. This past season in Denver, he came close to averaging a point per game. Drouin had 37 points (11 goals and 26 assists) in 43 games. He did miss 39 games with separate upper and lower body injuries.
Maxim Shabanov
The right winger from Chelyabinsk, Russia signed a one-year deal worth $975,000. There is no risk here but the upside could be huge as Shabanov might be part of the Islanders top six mix. However, one must realize, the Islanders had expectations for Maxim Tsyplakov of Moscow last year too, and he only had 35 points in 77 games. Last season for Chelyabinsk Traktor of the Kontinental Hockey League, Shabanov had 23 goals and 44 assists for 67 points in 65 games.
Emil Heineman
Heineman is the fourth line left winger the Islanders got in return in the Noah Dobson blockbuster transaction with the Canadiens at the time of the NHL Draft. He is expected to be on the Islanders fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Tsyplakov. Heineman has spent the last two seasons with the Canadiens and had 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in 62 games in 2024-25.
Matthew Schaefer
Expectations are always high for the first overall pick in the NHL Draft, and Schaefer is no different. The native of Stoney Creek, Ontario is expected to bring some offense to the Islanders blueline (had 22 points in 17 games last season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters) on a defensive pairing alongside Scott Mayfield.
David Rittich
The veteran goalie from Jihlava, Czech Republic is expected to backup Ilya Sorokin until Semyon Varlamov  returns from hip surgery. He signed a one year deal worth $1 million on Canada Day. Rittich is joining his sixth NHL team after playing for the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville, Predators, Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings. Last year in southern California, he had a record of 16-14-2 with a goals against average of 2.81 and a save percentage of .887.
Projected Grade
I like what the Islanders did in adding Drouin. However, we have zero idea what to expect from Shabanov. I am not a huge fan of the Dobson deal from an Islands perspective, and we don’t know how much of an impact Rittich will have (if all). As for Schaefer, he was the projected no. 1 pick, but will take time for him to grow. My offseason Islanders offseason grade is a C.
