Can The Islanders Be A Surprise This Season?

<p>Welcome back to the Isles Den Podcast for our annual season preview show! <br /><br />Today Jack shared his takeaways from the preseason matchup with the Rangers where Kashawn Aitcheson and Matias Maccelli impressed, graded Mathieu Darche's offseason, and laid out the blueprint for how this team can surprise people under new head coach Pete DeBoer before answering all of the New York Islanders questions from you guys!<br /><br />Fans were wondering how the Mathew Barzal injury shakes up the opening night lineup, if Victor Eklund has already locked up a roster spot, and if Simon Holmstrom can finally break out in a contract year. <br /><br />We had some fun discussions like my ideal power play units and my opening night forward predictions as well. We also touched on why Matthew Schaefer and Ilya Sorokin are the two true game breakers who make this team so hard to predict, and Semyon Varlamov's incredible return to the crease after two years away. <br /><br />Hockey is officially back on Long Island as the regular season kicks off next Wednesday in Toronto. The live streamed postgame shows return next week too, now streaming on TikTok, so make sure you're following along all season long!</p><p>Chapters<br /><br />* 00:00 Intro and Isles Content Updates<br />* 01:09 Preseason NYI vs. NYR: Matias Maccelli and Kashawn Aitcheson Impress<br />* 04:20 Grading Mathieu Darche and the Isles Offseason<br />* 05:53 Season Preview &amp; Predictions<br />* 08:16 How great will Matthew Schaefer and Ilya Sorokin be?<br />* 08:43 NHL Goaltending Landscape<br />* 10:30 Mathew Barzal Injury <br />* 13:22 NYI Team Depth, Can It Improve?<br />* 14:49 Semyon Varlamov Returns <br />* 15:56 Victor Eklund Is Impressing Everyone<br />* 17:40 The Pete DeBoer fit<br />* 19:12 Q&amp;A<br /><br />Socials: <a href="https://linktr.ee/islesden" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://linktr.ee/islesden</a><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@IslesDen?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@IslesDen?sub_confirmation=1</a><br /><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@islesden" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@islesden</a><br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/islesden" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/islesden</a><br /><a href="https://www.twitter.com/IslesDen" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.twitter.com/IslesDen</a></p>