Islanders need stars to step up before season spirals out of control

For six long weeks, the Islanders’ plan amounted to waiting for their injured stars to get healthy.

The thought was if they could stick around NHL .500, on the periphery of the playoff race, then the pending returns of Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech would surely vault them above the mushy middle of the Eastern Conference and into the postseason.

For one night — when Duclair returned Dec. 21 and the Islanders played their best game of the season, thrashing the Maple Leafs, 6-3 — it looked like there might be some credence to that theory.

Anthony Duclair has just one goal since returning to the Islanders’ lineup. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

That was one night.

Duclair, in five games since returning to the lineup, has one goal and two assists and has rarely impacted games.

Barzal, in seven games since returning, has one goal (into an empty net) and two assists, with flashes of his usual skill interspersed by long periods where he’s been invisible.

Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders takes a shot as Bryan Rust of the Pittsburgh Penguins gives chase during the third period on Dec. 28, 2024. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The Islanders, in those seven games — Pelech returned on the same day as Barzal — are 2-5-0, with another match against the Maple Leafs coming up at UBS Arena on Thursday.

There is plenty of blame to go around here for a month in which the Islanders’ playoff chances have dwindled massively, but with the exception of Bo Horvat, none of the club’s stars have played like stars.

Barzal and Duclair, at least, have the excuse of coming back from injury, and it does normally take players a few weeks of playing to get their cardio completely back. (This, interestingly, was never factored into the whole idea that the Islanders just needed to get healthy).

Ilya Sorokin, who has been given a heavy workload with Semyon Varlamov still hurt and is struggling to deal with it, does not. He has let up three or more goals in all but one of his past seven starts with an .853 save percentage throughout.

Islanders veteran Brock Nelson did not score in December. NHLI via Getty Images

Coach Patrick Roy’s management of the Islanders net deserves some scrutiny after Marcus Hogberg — finally given a chance to play in Pittsburgh on Sunday — looked more than competent, but Sorokin is the fourth-highest-paid active netminder in the league.

Brock Nelson — who suffered his first scoreless month with more than three games played since February 2014 — is missing an excuse, too.

The best years of Nelson’s career have all come after he turned 30, and the Islanders didn’t entertain the idea of moving him at the last trade deadline, when he would have fetched a high price.

There’s been ample speculation he could be moved this year and that he would be perhaps the most valuable asset available if that’s the direction the Islanders go.

If he can’t recover his game soon, though, the potential return in a trade could be impacted.

More immediately, the Islanders need more from him than they are getting right now if there’s any chance to salvage the season.

Ditto for Barzal, Duclair and Sorokin.

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) reacts to letting in a goal during the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at UBS Arena on Dec. 23, 2024. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

Noah Dobson has recovered somewhat from a slow start to the season, but you could throw him in this mix, too, with his offensive production lagging behind what it was a year ago and expected development in the defensive zone yet to show itself consistently.

On paper, the Islanders depth chart — at least when they are healthy — should be good enough to get them into the playoffs.

There was real reason to be excited this offseason about how deep the forward group suddenly looked with Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov being part of things, and it wasn’t crazy to think they could make a run once finally healthy.

But for that to happen, the Islanders stars need to be stars.

Otherwise, their problems are going to be far bigger than just missing the playoffs in 2025.