With the decade coming to a close, it is common to look back at sports teams over the course of the decade. Every team goes through ups and downs and has some great players join and leave the team. The New York Islanders have had an interesting decade and it’s time to look back at who were the top New York Islanders over the course of the decade.
John Tavares – Forward
This one pretty much goes without saying. Ever since the Islanders drafted John Tavares first overall, he was a star for the franchise. Before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency in 2018, Tavares spent nine seasons with the Islanders. In that span, he recorded 621 points in 669 games.
He was consistently the team’s top scorer and was the captain of the club for five seasons. Tavares currently holds the spot as the Islanders’ fifth highest scorer in franchise history.
Kyle Okposo – Forward
There was a time when John Tavares and Kyle Okposo continuously led the New York Islanders in the scoring season after season. Okposo played his best hockey with the Islanders during his eight-year tenure with the club. Okposo spent seven of those seasons wearing the “A” on his jersey.
Despite only helping his team reach the postseason once, Okposo is clearly deserving of a spot on the Islanders all-decade team. During his Islanders tenure, he finished top two in scoring on his team five times, one of which he was his team’s leading scorer.
Matthew Barzal – Forward
Matthew Barzal is the youngest player on the Islanders all-decade team. Although Barzal is only in his third full season with the club, he has already done more and shown more talent than Islanders fans have seen since John Tavares. Barzal was his teams leading scorer in his rookie season back in 2017-2018, beating out John Tavares for the top spot.
He won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year making him the first New York Islander to win the award since Bryan Berard captured it in the 1996-1997 season. Barzal joined the company of Berard, Mike Bossy, Dennis Potvin and Brian Trottier as the only Islanders to ever win the Calder Trophy. Through 201 games with the Islanders, Barzal has been fantastic scoring 179 points in that span.
Barzal has quickly become the face of the New York Islanders franchise and it will not be long before he makes his way atop the franchise leading scorers list with John Tavares.
Nick Leddy – Defensemen
For the last six seasons, Nick Leddy has been heading up the New York Islanders blue-line, earning him a spot on the New York Islanders all-decade team. Leddy has played 429 games with the Islanders, recording an overall total of 205 points over that span. His 205 points are the sixth highest total in franchise history by a defender despite playing for fewer seasons than all five players above him and fewer games. It is only a matter of time before Leddy makes his way up the list to become one of the highest-scoring defenders in the Islanders history.
Mark Streit – Defensemen
Before John Tavares and Anders Lee donned the “C” for the New York Islanders, Mark Streit was the captain during the time he spent playing in Brooklyn. Streit spent four seasons with the Islanders (four of which came during the decade). Over the course of the decade the Islanders have not been lucky enough to have many star-studded defensemen on their roster, Streit was one of the few.
He recorded 179 points in 286 games as a defender and even finished as his team’s leading scorer during one of those seasons (although it was before the decade started). On a team that did not feature very many all-star defenders over the course of the decade, Mark Streit is one of the few to don the Islanders jersey over the last ten years.
Over the course of the decade, the New York Islanders crease has never been the envy of the NHL. That was until last season when Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner made up the league’s top goaltending duo. Greiss has enjoyed a great tenure with the New York Islanders, posting strong numbers in all but one of his five seasons and counting.
Greiss spend his first season with the Islanders in 2015-2016 and had an impressive first season with his new team. He played 41 games with the Islanders, finishing the season with a .925 SV% and a 2.36 GAA. He led his team to the NHL playoffs which he performed quite well, recording a .923 SV% and a 2.46 GAA through 11 games played.
He has posted and continues to record similar numbers to that of the 2015-2016 season at a consistent rate. His only down year came during the 2017-2018 season which was a rough year for the entire team and Greiss only played in 27 games. Over the past ten years, Thomas Greiss has been the strongest and most consistent goaltender to play for the New York Islanders.