The New York Islanders are showing to be a worthy opponent for the Flyers in this Playoff series, but the worst for the Flyers could still be yet to come! The boys from Brooklyn, who most have thought to be just lying dormant over the past few seasons, have been doing nothing of the sort. While the Islanders might not have been contenders throughout the course of past few seasons, they were a dominating force during the draft! Like the Flyers, the Islanders’ draft picks are starting to pay dividends in the form of young and extremely talented players who are beginning to not only crack their respected NHL clubs’ lineups, but who are becoming some of the league’s most dynamic scorers and play makers around. For this reason, the Islanders should no longer be taken lightly!
Such names that are beginning to have Islanders jerseys flying off the shelves are a pair of 2015 first round draft picks are the 23-years-old Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. Both players have seemed to come alive this season for New York and their offensive talents should be a problem not only for the Flyer’s defense the rest of this series, but for many years to come.
To go along with this youthful movement up front, the Islanders have a pair of young defenders that are starting to turn heads as well. 2013 draft pick and now 25-year-old defenseman Ryan Pulock has a monster of a shot from the point and has shown he can log some big minutes for the Islanders during this series. 26-year-old Devon Toews has impressed as well and is continuing to develop into solid defenseman.
But the Flyers’ troubles are set to get much worse when they travel to New York for a game in the future: The Islanders have a multitude of talented prospects ascending through their system quickly. One of those players the Islanders snagged back in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and just might be their goalie of the future. He is Russian goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Long Island has
been awaiting a goaltender of great talents for many years like we Flyers fans had been before former-Flyers’ General Manager Ron Hextall graced us with netminder Carter Hart. Islanders fans are not so quick to trust a promising goaltender though, after the likes of the “talented” Rick DiPietro was signed to a record 15-year deal worth over sixty-five million dollars and turned out to be an injury prone disaster. So much so that the Islanders chose to be stuck paying DiPietro $1.5 Million dollars annually until the year 2029, seeing that they used one of their salary cap buyout options on Rick. Needless to say, the team and fans are just a little optimistic about
Sorkin while they wait for his current KHL contract to expire so they can then bring him stateside. Islanders should not fear though: Sorokin is 25-years-old now and has been an absolute force while playing in the second-best league in the world (the KHL). He posted a 1.49 goals against average (GAA) and a .935 save percentage (SV%) in forty games played this year and totaled a 1.16 GAA with a .940 SV% last season in the KHL over 40 games. Proving that he should be a machine in net for the Islanders for a long time to come once he comes east.
Continuing to gather their pieces, the Islanders selected now 22-year-old Kieffer Bellows back in 2016 with their first round pick. Bellows, the son of NHL All Star Brian Bellows, is a dynamic goal scorer with a motor that won’t quit. This is one prospect this writer was extremely optimistic about and wished the Flyers could have drafted him. With Bellows impressing
Islanders brass when he was called up this year from the teams AHL affiliate, it seems that he will fit nicely alongside Barzal far too soon for the Flyers’ liking.
Another Islanders forward prospect who should be on the Flyers’ radar is Oliver Wahlstrom who New York selected with the 11th overall pick back in 2018. This 20-year-old is yet another absolute scoring threat hidden in the Islanders system who should be ready to join the shoremen sooner rather than later.
The Islanders did not stop there though: In 2018 with the very next pick in the draft, they selected right-hand-shot defenseman Noah Dobson 12th overall. Dobson, who has already made it to the NHL level (playing in thirty-four games this season for the Islanders), is a defenseman who can play in any situation. Whether it be during five on five play, on the power play or on the Penalty Kill unit, Noah simply eats up minutes.
The last piece of the youth movement in New York that deserves to be mentioned is American defenseman Bode Wilde. Drafted in 2018 as well, this former second round pick plays a tough 200ft game and is a brute in his defense zone. Wilde possesses a strong shot from the point and is smart player who rarely makes mistakes.
Now, with both the Flyers and the Islanders having their cupboards stacked full of a wealth of talented young prospects, this once heated rivalry of the early 80’s is set to ensue once again. While it might not ever match up to the times of Tim Kerr, Mark Howe, and Pelle Lindbergh taking on guys like Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith, it is set to excite and entertain both fan bases for a long time to come.
