How Do Islanders Stack Up Against Rangers Following 2024 Off-Season?

In a series for The Hockey News, we are looking at how the New York Islanders compare to the other seven teams in the Metropolitan Division heading into the 2024-25 season. Up next is the New York Rangers.

New York Rangers

Key Additions: Forward Reilly Smith, Defensemen Chad Ruhwedel

Key Departures: Forwards Alex Wennberg, Barclay Goodrow, and Jack Roslovic, and defenseman Erik Gustafsson 

Islanders record vs. NYR: 1-1-2

We'll begin by looking at the forwards, where both teams made some more substantial than flashy pickups.

The Rangers retained Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Vincent Trocheck, keeping one of the best top-six units in hockey.

They did acquire forward Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins, a player who has had his share of success against the Islanders.

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In 26 regular-season games, he has seven goals and 12 assists, and that's not getting into his eight-point playoff series against them in 2016.

The rest of their additions on that front were minor, with Alex Wennberg, Barclay Goodrow, and Jack Roslovic leaving the team.

Their most substantial changes at the blue line are Chad Ruhwedel and Casey Fitzgerald, who signed on with two-way deals, but not much else will change on that front. Erik Gustafsson is now with the Detroit Red Wings, but that's the main departure for the Rangers' defense.

The Rangers still boast Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, and Braden Schneider as their key contributors, but they still have a Jacob Trouba dilemma to resolve. Goaltending also remains untouched as Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick will return between the pipes.

Comparing their roster now to the Islanders' roster, it will be a team that can give one of the Metropolitan Division's elite some fits.

Looking at the forwards, Bo Horvat gave the Rangers a hard time this year, tallying four goals and an assist in their four meetings.

Brock Nelson also dominated the Blueshirts this season, tallying a whopping three red lights and four helpers for seven points.

While Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri were quiet in their games against their cross-town rivals, this is where the move for Duclair can pay dividends.

Duclair scored 24 goals last season compared to Smith's 13, and with Maxim Tsyplakov joining the team from the KHL, that depth of scoring could prove important in matching the Rangers' firepower.

Like the Rangers, the Islanders remain mostly unchanged on defense. Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech remain, but the key performer for the Islanders was Noah Dobson, who had five helpers across the four games against the Rangers.

Scott Mayfield, Alexander Romanov, and a returning Mike Reilly will round out the unit, and while Mayfield had a nightmare season, his being fully healthy will be an X-factor.

Goaltending wise, when everything is clicking, every game will be a tight battle.

Ilya Sorokin had a down year for the Islanders, and that extended to this season against the Rangers as well, going 0-1-2 with a,884 SV% and 4.23 GAA. However, a Sorokin revival will make matchups with Shesterkin as good as they've ever been, despite the latter's occasional struggles against the Islanders.

With just under three months to go until their first matchup, neither team will look too different ahead of next season.

However, with some depth changes and names to watch ahead of Nov. 3, the New York rivalry will likely remain a must-watch for hockey fans as the two teams meet.

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