New York Islanders Season Preview: Forwards

This series of articles will preview the New York Islanders for the upcoming season. I’ll cover the general overview of the team, the goaltenders position, the defense and the forwards.

Forwards:

Josh Bailey, Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau, Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Andy Hilbert, Trent Hunter, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Richard Park, Jon Sim, Jeff Tambellini, Doug Weight

The New York Islanders open up the season with an intriguing blend of veteran players and youthful exuberance. How all these pieces blend together (and whether or not any one of them can achieve 25 goals) is anyone’s guess right now.

Doug Weight was brought in to take over the #1 center spot. It will be interesting to see how much gas he has left in the tank at this point in his career. His presence could provide captain Bill Guerin with one last burst of glory as the two are fast friends and have shown chemistry on the ice when they’ve played together in the past. Mike Comrie slides back into his natural second line center position and, by relieving the unreasonable expectations placed upon him last year, the Islanders hope he can become the scoring pivot they envisioned when they signed him in free agency. Jon Sim, Andy Hilbert, Trent Hunter and Richard Park round out the veteran contingent. They are all role players and are expected to chip in with a goal here and there.

The potential for success this year is going to rest solely on the young shoulders of the Islanders’ prospects. Their continued development is going to be the key, specifically RW Kyle Okposo. This budding first round pick has the potential to be a major goal scorer in this league someday, but, for now, New York fans would be satisfied seeing him play a full season with the big club and learning to use his immense gifts. Jeff Tambellini, a scoring demon in the AHL, must find a way to translate that success to the NHL or he will likely be gone next year. Frans Nielsen, Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim will attempt to build on their experiences from last season. Finally, it appears that Josh Bailey will see some time with the Islanders. Though it will serve him well to become familiar with the speed of the NHL game, his development will be much better served by returning to his junior club.

New coach Scott Gordon has been preaching utilizing his team’s speed in order to create turnovers in their opponent’s ends. If that plan is to be implemented, the younger legs will obviously be a huge part of it.