The NHL heads to Long Island (1972–1974) In fall 1972, the emerging
World Hockey Association (WHA) planned to place its New York team, the
New York Raiders, in
Nassau County's brand-new
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. County officials did not consider the WHA a major league and wanted to keep the Raiders out.
William Shea, who had helped bring
Major League Baseball's
New York Mets to the area a decade earlier, was enlisted to bring an NHL team to Long Island. Although Shea had previously worked with upstart rival leagues including the aborted
Continental League, the
American Football League and the
American Basketball Association, his ultimate goal in these efforts had always been to try to persuade the established leagues to grant second franchises to
New York as had been the case with the Mets (and also with the
New York Jets and
New York Nets, as a result of those teams' leagues merging with their established rivals). played a major role in bringing a hockey team to Long Island. In contrast, Shea decided there was no need to work with the WHA since unlike the initial results of his previous approaches to established leagues in the other major sports, Shea immediately found NHL president
Clarence Campbell to be receptive to adding a second team in New York. Nevertheless, the Islanders' bid faced opposition from the
New York Rangers, who did not want additional competition in the New York area. Eventually, Campbell and Shea persuaded the Rangers' owners,
Madison Square Garden, to reconsider. Rangers' president
Bill Jennings weighed pros and cons. Another local NHL team would be compelled to compensate the Rangers for sharing the New York area. On the other hand, a WHA team would owe the Rangers nothing unless it was included in a potential NHL–WHA merger, a prospect to which both Campbell and Jennings were adamantly opposed. Finally, consenting to the establishment of an NHL franchise in suburban
Nassau County would help to ensure the vast majority of the Rangers' fanbase within New York City proper would continue to support the older franchise, and reduced the prospect of a rival league eventually establishing a team and fanbase there. Perhaps remembering the crucial role the Jets had played in ensuring the success of the AFL just a few years earlier as a challenger of the
National Football League, Jennings decided to help bring a new NHL team to the New York metropolitan area. Despite expanding to 14 teams just two years prior, the NHL awarded a
Long Island-based franchise to clothing manufacturer
Roy Boe, owner of the
American Basketball Association's
New York Nets, on November 8, 1971. An expansion franchise was also given to
Atlanta (the
Flames) to keep the schedule balanced and to prevent the WHA from entering the growing market at the newly built
Omni Coliseum. Many expected it to use the "
Long Island Ducks", after the
Eastern Hockey League team that played from 1959 to 1973. The team was soon nicknamed the "Isles" by the local newspapers. The Islanders' arrival effectively doomed the Raiders, who played in Madison Square Garden under difficult lease terms and were forced to move to
Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the middle of their second season. Soon after the draft,
Phil Goyette was named as the team's first head coach, however he was fired halfway through the season and replaced with
Earl Ingarfield and assistant coach
Aut Erickson. Unlike most other expansion teams' general managers, Torrey made few trades for veteran players in the early years, as he was committed to building the team through the draft. Torrey stated, "I told the owners that we're not going to beat this team next door by taking the castoffs from others teams. We'd have to develop our own stars." By September 1972, the Islanders were waiting for the Nassau Coliseum to be completed as well as their practice facility "The Royal Ice Rink" in
Kings Park. The team was forced to practice as late as October 6, the day before their first game, at the Rangers practice rink in
New Hyde Park. The Islanders' first win came on October 12, 1972, in a 3–2 game against the
Los Angeles Kings. A highlight occurred on January 18, 1973, when they defeated the defending
Stanley Cup champion
Boston Bruins 9–7. During the off-season, Torrey convinced former
St. Louis Blues coach
Al Arbour to come coach the Islanders. In the
1974–75 season, the Islanders made one of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history. Led by Potvin, forwards Westfall, Harris, Nystrom, Gillies, and goaltenders Smith and
Glenn "Chico" Resch, the team earned 88 points, 32 more than the previous season and two more than their first two seasons combined, earning their first playoff berth. They defeated the rival
New York Rangers in a best-of-3 first-round series as
J. P. Parise scored just 11 seconds into overtime of the third game. They were close but not as lucky in the following round, rallying from another 3–0 deficit to force a seventh game against the defending
Stanley Cup champion
Philadelphia Flyers before the Flyers took the decisive seventh game at home and went on to win the Cup again. The Islanders continued their climb up the standings in
1975–76, earning 101 points and the fifth-best record in the league. It was the first 100-point season in Islanders history, in only their fourth year of existence. Rookie center Trottier finished the season with 95 points and won the
Calder Memorial Trophy; his points and assists (63) totals set a new league record for most in each category by a rookie. It would be the first of four consecutive 100-point seasons, including the first two division titles in franchise history. Despite the emergence of young star players and regular season success between 1976 and 1979 the Islanders suffered a series of playoff disappointments. In
1976 and
1977 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Islanders were knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the
Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens posted a 24–3 record in the playoffs during those two seasons with all three losses coming at the hands of the Islanders. was selected with the 15th overall pick in
1977 and became the third Islander to win the
Calder Memorial Trophy. In the
1977 draft, Torrey had the 15th overall pick and was deciding between forwards
Mike Bossy and
Dwight Foster. Bossy was known as an emerging scorer who lacked physicality. Foster was known as a solid
checker with marginal offensive ability (despite having led the
Ontario Hockey League in scoring). Arbour persuaded Torrey to pick Bossy, arguing it was easier to teach a scorer how to check. In the
1977–78 season, Bossy became the third Islander to win the Calder Trophy, and scored 53 goals that season, a rookie record at the time. The season ended with a familiar result in the
playoffs, as the team lost in overtime in game 7 of the quarterfinals against the
Toronto Maple Leafs. a strong two-way player, his presence on the second line ensured that opponents would no longer be able to focus their defensive efforts on the Islanders' first line of Bossy, Trottier and
Clark Gillies. Contributions from new teammates, such as wingers
Duane Sutter and
Anders Kallur and
stay-at-home defensemen Dave Langevin,
Gord Lane, and
Ken Morrow (the latter fresh off a
gold medal win at the
1980 Olympics), also figured prominently in the Islanders' playoff success. In the
1980 playoffs, the Islanders defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3–1 in the preliminary round, then beat the Boston Bruins 4–1 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Islanders faced the
Buffalo Sabres, who had finished second overall in the NHL standings. The Islanders won the first two games in Buffalo, including a 2–1 victory in game two on
Bob Nystrom's goal in double overtime. They went on to win the series in six games and reach the
Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history, where they would face the NHL's regular season champions, the
Philadelphia Flyers, who had gone undefeated for 35 straight games (25–0–10) during the regular season. In game one in
Philadelphia, the Islanders won 4–3 on
Denis Potvin's power-play goal in overtime. Leading the series 3–2, they went home to Long Island for game six. In that game the Islanders blew a 4–2 lead in the third period but Nystrom continued his overtime heroics, scoring at 7:11 of the extra frame, on assists by John Tonelli and Lorne Henning, to bring Long Island its first Stanley Cup championship. This was the most recent Stanley Cup-clinching game won in overtime by the home team until the Los Angeles Kings did it in 2014. It was also the Islanders' sixth overtime victory of the playoffs. Bryan Trottier won the
Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. Torrey's strategy of building through the draft turned out very well; nearly all of the major contributors on the 1980 champions were home-grown Islanders or had spent most of their NHL careers in the Islanders organization. The Islanders were the first NHL team to win the Stanley Cup with Europeans (
Stefan Persson and Kallur) on its roster. The Islanders dominated the next two seasons. Bossy scored
50 goals in 50 games in
1981 and the Islanders lost only three playoff games en route to defeating the
Minnesota North Stars in five games to win the Stanley Cup. Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy. During their semifinals sweep of the Rangers, Islanders' fans began taunting the Rangers with a chant of "
1940!" – referring to the Rangers' last Stanley Cup win in
1940 (the Rangers would not win the cup again until
1994). Fans in other NHL cities soon picked up the chant. and represent the four
Stanley Cup championships the Islanders won from 1980 through 1983. In
1981–82, the Islanders won a then-record 15 straight games en route to a franchise-record 118 points, while
Mike Bossy set a scoring record for right-wingers with 147 points in an 80-game schedule. The Islanders finished with the most points in the league (118), yet once in the playoffs against the
Pittsburgh Penguins they found themselves down late in the third period of deciding game 5 before
John Tonelli scored both the tying goal and the overtime winner. After defeating the Rangers in six games they swept both the
Quebec Nordiques and the
Vancouver Canucks in the first-ever coast-to-coast
Stanley Cup Final for their third straight championship. During that series Bossy, upended by a check from
Tiger Williams and falling parallel to the ice, managed to hook the puck with his stick and score. Bossy netted the Stanley Cup-winning goal and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy. The next year, although the Islanders had won the Stanley Cup three straight times, more attention was being paid to the upstart
Edmonton Oilers, whose young superstar
Wayne Gretzky had just shattered existing scoring records. In
1982–83 the Oilers had a better regular season, but the Islanders swept them in the
Stanley Cup Final to win their fourth straight championship.
Billy Smith was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner after shutting down the Oilers' vaunted scoring machine. Gretzky failed to score a goal during the series. Duane and
Brent Sutter scored seven and five points respectively in the first three games, while Bossy again scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in game four. After that game, the Oilers players walked past the Islanders' dressing room and were surprised to see the champions exhausted. Oilers players such as Gretzky and
Mark Messier said that they realized at that moment how much it would actually take to win the Stanley Cup.
Post-dynasty and the Easter Epic (1983–1991) The Islanders finished the
1983–84 regular season tied atop the Prince of Wales Conference while successfully defending their Patrick Division title. The "Drive for Five" got off to a tense start. Late in the deciding game of their first-round series against the Rangers,
Don Maloney tied the game with a controversial goal as the Islanders believed Maloney's stick was too high. They ultimately eliminated the Rangers for the fourth consecutive year. The team then defeated the
Washington Capitals in five games and the
Montreal Canadiens in six to set up a Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Oilers. The
1984 Stanley Cup Final featured rookie
Pat LaFontaine scoring two third-period goals in 38 seconds. This time, the Oilers dethroned the Islanders to win the first of what would be five Stanley Cup victories in seven years. For the
1984 playoffs, the NHL changed the home and away schedule for the Stanley Cup Final series, which provided the Islanders home-ice advantage in the series based on Wales Conference teams collectively having a winning record in regular season games versus Campbell Conference opponents, despite finishing lower than them in the overall standings. The new format had them play three straight games in Edmonton, where the Oilers managed to lock up the series, after the teams had split the first two games in New York. Bossy cited the team's hard time winning an away game as their downfall in the series. The Oilers also ended the Islanders' 19-series playoff winning streak. It remains the longest streak in the history of professional sports (one more than the 1959–1967 streak by the
Boston Celtics of the NBA). Unlike the 1976–1979 Montreal Canadiens, who needed to win three series in the 1976 and 1977 playoffs under the playoff format in place at that time, the Islanders had to win four series in each of their Stanley Cup seasons. The Islanders remained competitive for the rest of the decade, even as some of the stars from the Cup teams departed. As the decade wore on, Pickett began to keep the money from the team's cable deal rather than reinvest it in the team as he had done in years past. Although it did not become clear immediately, the lack of funds limited Torrey's ability to replace all of the departing talent. In the
1984–85 NHL season, the Islanders slipped to third in their division, followed by similar results in the
1985–86 and
1986–87 seasons. They began facing stiff competition from division rivals, the
Philadelphia Flyers, who eliminated the Islanders in the division finals in 1985 and 1987, and the Capitals, who swept the Islanders' 1986 first-round series, the team's first exit without winning a playoff round since 1978. (pictured in 2006) saved 73 of 75 shots in the "
Easter Epic" for the Islanders, who came out victorious after four periods of overtime play. In 1986, Nystrom retired due to a serious injury and
Clark Gillies was picked up on waivers by the
Buffalo Sabres. Arbour retired as coach following the
1985–86 season and was replaced by longtime junior hockey coach
Terry Simpson. During the first round of the
1987 playoffs against the Capitals, the Islanders had fallen behind in the series three games to one but were not eliminated due to a playoff format change from a best-of-5 series to a best-of-7. The Islanders evened the series, which set the stage for one of the most famous games in NHL history: the "
Easter Epic".
Kelly Hrudey stopped 73 shots on goal while Pat LaFontaine scored at 8:47 of the fourth overtime—and at 1:56 a.m. on
Easter Sunday morning. The win came even though the Islanders had been outshot 75–52. They were eliminated in the division finals in seven games by the Flyers. Chronic back pain forced
Mike Bossy to retire after the season. The
following season, the Islanders captured another division title, but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the upstart
New Jersey Devils. Potvin retired after the playoffs, holding records for most career goals (310), assists (742) and points (1052) by a defenseman, though he has since been passed in these categories by
Ray Bourque and
Paul Coffey. Around this time, the team's run of good luck in the draft began to run out. Of their four top draft picks from 1987 to 1990, they lost one to a freak knee injury and two others never panned out. The
1988–89 season saw the Islanders win only seven of their first 27 games. Torrey fired Simpson and brought Arbour back. Arbour was unable to turn things around, and the team finished with 61 points, tied with the
Quebec Nordiques for the worst record in the league. It was their first losing season and the first time missing the playoffs since their second season. Smith, the last remaining original Islanders player, retired after the season to become the team's goaltending coach. Not long after the end of the season, Pickett moved to Florida and turned day-to-day operations over to a committee of four Long Island entrepreneurs: Ralph Palleschi, Bob Rosenthal,
Stephen Walsh, and
Paul Greenwood. In return, they each bought a 2.5% interest in the team. and gave Milbury full control of hockey operations as both a coach and general manager. Milbury went on to resign as head coach during the
following season and elevated assistant
Rick Bowness to the position. After another unsuccessful season with little improvement, Milbury took over as coach again during the
1997–98 season. The team improved to fourth place in their division but again failed to make the playoffs. Milbury followed by once again stepping down as coach during the
following season while retaining his job as general manager. During the continued playoff drought, instability in the front office mirrored the Islanders' substandard performance on the ice. Pickett sold the team to
Dallas businessman
John Spano in 1996. However, three months after the 1997 closing, Spano had only paid Pickett a fraction of the first installment on the cable rights deal. Several Islanders executives tipped off
Newsday that something was amiss about their new boss. In July,
Newsday exposed Spano as a fraud who did not have the assets required to complete the deal. The investigation showed that Spano had deliberately misled the NHL and the Islanders about his net worth, and also had two lawsuits pending against him. Within days of the report, Spano was forced to relinquish the team to Pickett. Federal prosecutors turned up evidence that Spano had forged many of the documents used to vouch for his wealth and to promise payment to Pickett, and even appeared to have sent many of the documents from his own office in Dallas. He was sentenced to 71 months in prison for bank and wire fraud. The NHL took additional heat when reports surfaced that the league spent well under $1,000 (depending on the source, the league spent either $525 Pickett finally found a buyer, a group led by
Howard Milstein and
Phoenix Coyotes co-owner Steven Gluckstern, a deal which almost fell through when
Spectacor Management Group, which managed the Coliseum for Nassau County, tried to force Pickett to certify that the Coliseum was safe. Pickett refused, since the Coliseum had fallen into disrepair in recent seasons. SMG backed down under pressure from the Islanders, the NHL, and Nassau County officials. Initially, the team made numerous trades and increased their payroll in an effort to assemble a better team. In one transaction, young players
Todd Bertuzzi and
Bryan McCabe were traded for veteran
Trevor Linden. After the Islanders finished 12 points short of the playoffs in the 1997–98 season, however, Milstein and Gluckstern decided to run the team on an austere budget in an attempt to make a profit. They also complained about the condition of the Nassau Coliseum and made noises about moving the team elsewhere. They began trading or releasing many popular players to avoid paying their salaries, including star scorer
Zigmund Palffy, team captain Linden, former rookie of the year
Bryan Berard, and rugged defenseman
Rich Pilon. Losing the highly regarded players, the team finished with similar results the next two seasons. Attendance, which had been in a steady decline over the past few years, decreased even further to under 12,000 per game. Around that time, Milstein bid hundreds of millions of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to purchase the
National Football League's
Washington Redskins and
Cleveland Browns.
New ownership and a return to the playoffs (2000–2006) {{Quote box In 2000, Milstein and Gluckstern sold the team to
Computer Associates executives
Charles Wang and
Sanjay Kumar. The sale cost $187.5 million ($ million in dollars) and gave fans hope for the team to turn its lack of success around. Establishing a record of controversial decisions, Milbury held onto the "Mad Mike" nickname for years to follow. He remained adamant that his moves were to immediately improve the team, whose poor winning percentage that year was ahead of only the franchise's first season. The team's uninspired play led Milbury to fire head coach and past player
Butch Goring. Fans vocalized their dislike of Goring taking the fall rather than Milbury, which was further worsened when Milbury passed on hiring
Ted Nolan as Goring's successor; Instead,
Boston Bruins assistant coach
Peter Laviolette was hired. (left) prior to the
2001–02 season. Yashin would go on to become the team's captain in later years. Three key personnel acquisitions were made prior to the 2001–02 season, Laviolette's first.
Alexei Yashin was acquired from the
Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward
Bill Muckalt, defenseman
Zdeno Chara and the Islanders' second overall pick in the
2001 draft. Next, Islanders prospects
Tim Connolly and
Taylor Pyatt were traded to the
Buffalo Sabres in exchange for
Michael Peca, who became the team's captain. By virtue of finishing with the worst record in the previous season,
Detroit Red Wings goaltender
Chris Osgood was the next addition, taken as the first pick in the September 2001 waiver draft, adding a former Stanley Cup championship goaltender without giving up any players in exchange. The additions proved to be a great help, as the team opened the season with a 9–0–1–1 record, the best in franchise history. They finished the season with new broken records; their 96 points marked the fourth biggest one-year turnaround in the league's history (44 points higher than the previous season), while Osgood's 66 starts surpassed
Ron Hextall's previous record of 65. Despite the promise shown in the Toronto playoff series, the Islanders had a slow start to the
2002–03 season. They rebounded to make the playoffs, but lost a five-game series in the first round to the top-seeded
Ottawa Senators. Milbury continued his controversial move-making by firing Laviolette after the season, citing postseason interviews with the players in which they expressed a lack of confidence in the coach. He was replaced with
Steve Stirling, who had previously been coaching the team's top minor league affiliate, the
Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In the
following season, the Islanders again lost in the first round of the playoffs, this time to the eventual champion
Tampa Bay Lightning. Following the
2004–05 NHL lockout, which eliminated that season of play, the Islanders made several player moves to increase offense for
following season. Peca was traded to the
Edmonton Oilers for center
Mike York, freeing up room under the NHL's new salary cap. The same day, the team signed winger
Miroslav Satan to play alongside Yashin. Milbury also worked on remaking the team's defense, adding
Alexei Zhitnik,
Brad Lukowich and
Brent Sopel to replace the departed
Adrian Aucoin and
Roman Hamrlik, who left as free agents, and Jonsson, who left the NHL to play in the
HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden. In the aftermath, Yashin was named as the team's new captain. The team's inconsistent play led to Stirling's dismissal midway through the season. He served as vice president of Wang's sports properties for one year before resigning in May 2007. Wang proceeded by hiring
Neil Smith as general manager and
Ted Nolan as head coach, following a brief stint by
Brad Shaw as the team's interim head coach. Smith, however, was fired after approximately one month and quickly replaced by the team's backup goaltender
Garth Snow, who retired from his playing career to accept the position. DiPietro, Wang and Snow all spoke confidently and felt it was the best move for both sides, despite the mixed reactions it received from the rest of the hockey world. Specifically, Wang stated, "This is not a big deal. You have to have a commitment to who you're working with." Eyeing a playoff spot, Snow traded for forward
Ryan Smyth from the
Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline on February 27, 2007. Injuries to DiPietro provided extra setbacks, but not enough to drop the team from playoff contention. They qualified for the playoffs, assisted by a late-season winning streak and a 3–2 shootout victory against the
New Jersey Devils in their final regular season game. Despite DiPietro's return to the team in time for the playoffs, the team lost their first round matchup in five games to the
Presidents' Trophy-winning
Buffalo Sabres. Management announced in June 2007 that they would buy out captain
Alexei Yashin's contract, which had four seasons remaining on it. Free agents Smyth, Poti,
Viktor Kozlov,
Jason Blake, and
Richard Zednik also left in July 2007. During that month, the Islanders signed
Bill Guerin to a two-year contract as he immediately assumed team captaincy. That summer, it was announced that Nolan extended an invitation to Al Arbour to return as a coach for one game in order to bring his total number of games coached to 1,500. Arbour signed a one-day contract, the shortest in league history, on November 3, 2007; it put him behind the bench the following day as the Islanders defeated the
Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2, raising his career coaching win total to 740. The team remained in the playoff hunt through the trade deadline as they re-signed Comrie to a one-year contract and traded away Simon and
Marc-Andre Bergeron. A rash of injuries saw them plummet to the fifth-worst record in the league by the end of the season. was drafted by the Islanders in 2008, to provide depth at the wing for the team. At the
2008 NHL entry draft, the Islanders made two trades to move down from the fifth to the ninth overall pick, with which they selected center
Josh Bailey. They also added free agents
Mark Streit and
Doug Weight. The team dismissed head coach
Ted Nolan over alleged philosophy differences, and later that summer replaced him with
Scott Gordon. Near the trade deadline, Snow traded Comrie and
Chris Campoli to the
Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward
Dean McAmmond and the
San Jose Sharks' first-round draft pick in the
2009 NHL entry draft and sent captain Bill Guerin to the
Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional draft pick. In the
2008–09 season, the Islanders finished in last place in the league with a record of 26–47–9, which was the team's worst record since the 2000–01 season. After the conclusion of regular season, they won the draft lottery to retain the first overall pick in the
2009 NHL entry draft.
The Tavares era begins (2009–2015) Beginning an effort to rebuild the team with new and young talent, the Islanders selected
John Tavares with the first-overall pick of the
2009 NHL entry draft. Tavares went into the draft as the top prospect in the majority of scouting reports, and it was widely expected that the Islanders would select him after they secured the first overall pick by winning the draft lottery, although there was plenty of competition between Tavares,
Victor Hedman, and
Matt Duchene.
NHL Central Scouting Bureau's Chris Edwards spoke highly of him, stating, "[Tavares] is phenomenal at getting the puck through traffic to his linemates, getting to opening. The way he reads the play and can get to where he figures the rebounds will be and bangs in the rebound. He's a real smart player." They traded up twice in the first round to also select defenseman
Calvin de Haan with the 12th overall pick, as well as
Casey Cizikas and
Anders Lee in later rounds, all of whom would go on to play consistently on the main roster by the
2014–15 season. The
2009–10 season started out slow, with the team winless its first six games. The team continued to play inconsistently due to injuries as many wrote them off as potential playoff contenders. The team hit a mid-season hot streak, however nine losses in 11 games before the Olympic break set them right back. They ultimately ended up at bottom of the standings again, finishing the season 26th in the league. The placement led to a fifth overall pick in
2010. Continuing with their rebuilding process, they used the first round to draft young forwards
Nino Niederreiter and
Brock Nelson with picks five and 30, respectively. As the
2010–11 season got underway, the team quickly fell into a ten-game losing streak, leading to the firing of head coach
Scott Gordon. He was replaced on an interim basis by
Jack Capuano, who had been coaching the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Early in the season, they also acquired
Michael Grabner from waivers, who went on to score 34 goals and was selected as a finalist for the
Calder Memorial Trophy; he would go on to sign a five-year contract with the team at the end of the season. in addition to being selected to play in the
59th NHL All-Star Game at the age of 21; his 81 points were seventh-best in the league. Tavares' left-winger
Matt Moulson also had a strong season, finishing with career highs of 36 goals, 33 assists and 69 points. Despite strong seasons from their top players, the team finished 27th in the league with a record of 34–37–11, continuing their pattern of racking up top prospects with early picks at the drafts. They used the first round of the
2012 draft to select defenseman
Griffin Reinhart with the fourth overall pick. On August 1, 2011, voters in
Nassau County rejected a proposal for a new arena to replace Nassau Coliseum. This followed the failed decade-long attempt by owner Charles Wang to build a mixed-use development called
The Lighthouse Project, which would have renovated the arena. In the wake of the vote, speculation began that the team would eventually move to
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn, new arenas in
Queens or
Suffolk County, the
Sprint Center in
Kansas City, or the
Videotron Centre in
Quebec City, the last of which was coincidentally set to open at the same time as the expiration of the Islanders' lease on the Nassau Coliseum in 2015. On October 24, 2012, the Islanders made the announcement that the franchise would indeed be moving to the
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn for the 2015–16 NHL season, after signing a lease that would keep the team in the arena until 2040. The team retained its name, logo and colors as part of the move. As part of the deal, the management of Barclays Center took over the team's business operations once the Islanders moved to Barclays Center. The decision to move to Brooklyn didn't require the Rangers' approval. Under a longstanding provision of the agreement that allowed the Islanders to share the New York area with the Rangers, the Islanders are allowed to play their games anywhere on Long Island, including the two city boroughs on the island, Brooklyn and
Queens. Beginning on April 1, 2013, of the
2012–13 season, the team went on a near month-long unbeaten streak in regulation time, posting a 12-game streak of earning points until falling to the
Philadelphia Flyers later that month. During that streak, on April 23, 2013, they clinched their first playoff berth since 2007 with a 4–3 shootout loss to the
Carolina Hurricanes, ending a six-year playoff drought. Behind goaltender
Evgeni Nabokov, the team was ultimately eliminated in six games by the
Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the
playoffs, continuing their winless streak in playoff series. On September 10, 2013, Tavares was introduced as the 14th captain in New York Islanders history, replacing former Islander Mark Streit of the Philadelphia Flyers, who served as team captain since 2011. After posting a 4–4–3 record in their first 11 games, the Islanders made a trade, sending fan favorite and three-time 30-goal scorer Matt Moulson, their 2014 first-round draft pick and their 2015 second-round draft pick to the
Buffalo Sabres in exchange for
Thomas Vanek, a highly regarded and dynamic goal scorer. Despite chemistry with linemates Tavares and
Kyle Okposo, however, his desire to test free agency and the team's impending move to
Barclays Center The Islanders finished the 2014–15 regular season with a record of 47–28–7 for 101 points, and met the Washington Capitals in the first round of the
2015 playoffs. The Capitals held home-ice advantage in the series after the Islanders lost their final regular season game to the
Columbus Blue Jackets, 5–4, in a shootout, as the Islanders lost the season series to the Capitals after posting a 2–1–1 record in the season series (Washington went 2–0–2, winning the season series with six points to the Islanders' five). On April 19, 2015, in the third game of their first-round series against Washington, John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime to win the game for the Islanders, 2–1. It was the second-shortest overtime playoff game in Islanders history, and was the first overtime, game-winning goal for the Islanders in the playoffs since 1993. The Islanders lost the fourth and fifth games of their series before rebounding in the sixth game to force a seventh game in the series. However, they were denied entry into the second round by a single goal and would ultimately fall to the Capitals in seven games. As a result, game 6 was the Islanders' last game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum; the Isles'
Cal Clutterbuck scored the final NHL goal in the building's first run prior to the Islanders' return in 2018.
Move to Barclays Center and playoff series win (2015–2017) In June 2015, the Islanders entered the 2015 draft without a first-round pick, but emerged with two first-rounders in
Mathew Barzal and
Anthony Beauvillier after a series of draft day trades. The Islanders also selected forward
Andong Song in the sixth round of the 2015 draft, making him the first Chinese player to be drafted by an NHL team. in
Brooklyn. The Islanders played their home games there from 2015 to 2020. The Islanders played their first regular season game at
Barclays Center on October 9, 2015, losing 3–2 in overtime to the
Chicago Blackhawks.
Artem Anisimov scored the first regular season goal, while Tavares scored the first regular season Islanders goal. The Islanders posted the fourth-best penalty kill rate and allowed the fewest power-play goals during the season. However, in the last quarter of the regular season, some players, including Halak and defenseman
Travis Hamonic, suffered key injuries. The team finished the regular season fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 100 points, enough to clinch the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced off against the
Florida Panthers; goaltender
Thomas Greiss only played in 40 minutes of playoff hockey with the
San Jose Sharks prior to this series. Both teams split the first four games of the series. The fifth game of the series proved to be a major turning point, as late season call-up
Alan Quine scored the game-winning goal on the power play with four minutes left in double overtime to end the second-longest game in franchise history; that goal gave them a 3–2 series lead and a chance to clinch the series on home ice. In the sixth game, the Islanders trailed 1–0 for much of the game, but Tavares tied it late in the third period. Tavares would score again with the series-clinching goal in double overtime to give the Islanders their first playoff series win since 1993. In the second round of the playoffs, they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time since 2004. Despite winning the first game of the series, the Islanders lost their series to the Lightning in five games. prior to a game during the
2016–17 season. Ladd signed with the Islanders as a free agent during the 2016 off-season. Summer of 2016 saw free agents and longtime Islanders Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin all depart the team, joining the
Buffalo Sabres,
Detroit Red Wings, and
Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively. Snow signed free agents
Andrew Ladd from the
Chicago Blackhawks and
Jason Chimera from the Washington Capitals to help fill the gaps left behind. After an underwhelming first half of the
2016–17 season, posting a 17–17–8 record through 42 games, head coach Jack Capuano was relieved of duties, with assistant general manager
Doug Weight being named interim head coach. Having coached the team since 2010, Capuano was the second-winningest coach in the team's history with 227 wins, also leading the team to their first playoff series win since 1993. Prior to Capuano's release, goaltender Jaroslav Halak was placed on waivers, and eventually sent down to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Having carried three goaltenders for the second consecutive season, the decision was made to stick with the tandem of Greiss and back-up
Jean-Francois Berube after Halak posted a 6–8–5 record with a .904 save percentage through the beginning of the 2016–17 season. In late January 2017, following a report by
Bloomberg News which speculated that Barclays Center was considering removing the Islanders due to poor attendance and effects on the venue's profit margins (reception to Barclays Center as a hockey venue was mixed partly due to obstructed view seats, as well as features like an off-center scoreboard, and the Islanders had the third-worst average attendance in the entire league while playing at the venue),
Newsday reported that Nassau County executive Edward Mangano had met with one of the team's co-owners, and told the paper that it was possible that the Islanders could return to the renovated Nassau Coliseum. However, commissioner
Gary Bettman considered the concept to be "unviable" (the renovation reduced the capacity of the arena to just under 14,000, which is smaller than any NHL arena), and noted that Ledecky and Malkin were pursuing a possible arena project at
Belmont Park. Despite winning their last six games of the 2016–17 season, the Islanders finished in ninth place in the Eastern Conference; they missed the playoffs by only one point when the Toronto Maple Leafs clinched the final playoff spot on the penultimate day of the season.
Lamoriello era and Conference Final appearances (2017–2025) On February 9, 2018, rookie
Mathew Barzal recorded his third five-point game, becoming only the second rookie to do so since
Joe Malone in 1917–18 and tying a 100-year-old record in the process. At the end of the 2017–18 regular season, Barzal had 85 points (22 goals, 63 assists). He led his team and all NHL rookies in points, and was tied for 13th overall in scoring in the NHL. Barzal was the seventh rookie in NHL history, and first since
Sidney Crosby in 2005–06, to have scored at least 20 goals and 60 assists in a single season. Barzal also tied Islanders legend,
Bryan Trottier's franchise record for rookie assists. Barzal won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year for his 85-point season, leading the closest candidate by 20 points and receiving 160 out of 164 first-place votes. Barzal was the first Islanders' player to win the award since
Bryan Berard in 1997, and he was the fifth Islanders' player overall to win the trophy, joining Islanders legends
Mike Bossy (1978), Trottier (1976), and
Denis Potvin (1974). Additionally,
Barry Trotz was hired as head coach of the Islanders. Trotz resigned from the Washington Capitals one month prior after coaching them to their first Stanley Cup championship since they entered the NHL in 1974. Captain John Tavares' contract with the team expired following the 2017–18 season, and despite attempts to re-sign him, In the 2018–19 season, the Islanders split their home games between Barclays Center and their former home, Nassau Coliseum. The use of both arenas would continue over the course of the following two seasons until the completion of a new 18,000-seat arena at
Belmont Park in
Elmont. The Islanders enjoyed success throughout the 2018–19 season, clinching a playoff berth at home for the first time in 17 years, and the first time in March since 1990. Nassau Coliseum hosted their home playoff games during the first round while the Barclays Center hosted their home games for the rest of the playoffs. In the first round of the
2019 playoffs, the Islanders swept the Pittsburgh Penguins, and in the second round the team was swept by the
Carolina Hurricanes. . On August 8, 2019, the
Empire State Development Corporation board (ESD) voted unanimously in favor of the Belmont Park Arena project. In February 2020, it was announced that the Islanders would return to Nassau Coliseum for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs and the 2020–21 season until
UBS Arena was opened. Both the 2019–20 season and the construction of the new arena were interrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic. When the NHL season was suspended on March 12, 2020, the Islanders had twelve regular season games remaining and were one point shy of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders qualified for the NHL Return-to-Play initiative as the seventh seed, beating the
Florida Panthers in four games in a best-of-5 qualifying round to make the
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. They would then go on to defeat the Washington Capitals in the first round in five games. Then, after blowing a 3–1 series lead to the
Philadelphia Flyers that extended the series to seven games, the Islanders would go on to win game 7 against the Flyers and advance to the conference finals for the first time since the
1993 playoffs. However, their run would come to an end at the hands of the
Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. In December 2020, New York Islanders Hockey Club, L.P. bought the remaining 15 percent stake of the team from the
estate of Charles Wang and took full ownership of the team. The Islanders again made the playoffs in the shortened 2020–21 season, defeating the Penguins and Bruins each in six games. They again lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, this time in seven. The Islanders started the 2021–22 season on a 13-game road trip while
UBS Arena was finalizing construction, finishing their road trip with a 5–6–2 record. However, minutes before the first home game of the season on November 20, 2021, many Islander players contracted COVID-19 and missed the home opener and several others. Longest tenured Islander
Josh Bailey and team captain
Anders Lee missed the game, while
Adam Pelech,
Anthony Beauvillier, and
Andy Greene were ruled out minutes before puck drop. They lost the home opener to the
Calgary Flames by a score of 5–2.
Brad Richardson scored the first goal in UBS Arena history, while
Brock Nelson scored the first Islander goal. The Islanders missed the playoffs after three consecutive trips, finishing the season with a 37–35–10 record. On May 9, 2022, head coach Barry Trotz was relieved from his duties, and replaced with
Lane Lambert. In the
next season, the Islanders finished as the first wild card, but were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the
2023 playoffs. After an inconsistent start to the
2023–24 season, head coach Lane Lambert was fired on January 20, 2024, and
Patrick Roy was hired as his replacement. The Islanders finished in third place in the Metropolitan Division and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the
2024 playoffs. After a disappointing
2024–25 season where the team finished 35–35–12 and missing the playoffs by nine points, the Islanders announced on April 22, 2025, that they would not be renewing Lamoriello's contract, bringing his time as general manager and president of hockey operations to an end.
Schaefer and new management (2025–present) Despite having only the 10th-best odds, the Islanders won the
2025 NHL draft lottery, acquiring the right to select first overall for the first time since 2009. In the off-season,
Mathieu Darche replaced Lamoriello as general manager. Due to Darche's decision to trade defenseman
Noah Dobson to the
Montreal Canadiens, the club made two additional first-round selections that year. On April 5, 2026, the Islanders fired head coach Patrick Roy with four games remaining in the 2025–26 regular season, and named
Peter DeBoer as new head coach. Despite the late coaching change, the Islanders missed the playoffs again. ==Team identity==