Andrew Gross: Islanders need to take care of business against Devils before Olympic break
Former Devil and current Islander Ondrej Palat celebrates his goal against the Rangers at UBS Arena on Jan. 28, 2026. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
So the pre-NHL trade deadline trade deadline — Wednesday’s roster freeze for the Olympic break through Feb. 22 — passed without the Islanders making additional moves after last week’s acquisitions of defenseman Carson Soucy from the Rangers and Ondrej Palat from the Devils.
That’s far from a pencils-down situation for general manager Mathieu Darche, who is still actively looking to further improve his team for the playoff push. But Darche also is comfortable/confident enough in his current roster to move forward.
Whether the Islanders add prior to the real trade deadline on March 6 or choose to trade away pending unrestricted free agents Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (the latter likely more of a possibility than the former) is analysis that can now wait for a later date.
For now, the only thing that matters is the two points available on Thursday night when the Islanders face Palat’s former team at Prudential Center in the last game before the Olympic break.
Palat, selected for Team Czechia and Bo Horvat, picked for Team Canada, will then head to Milan, Italy for the Winter Games and their teammates will head on vacation, many to a sunny, resort location.
It goes without saying, though here it is said, that Horvat and Palat cannot be looking ahead to donning their nation’s jersey and the rest of the Islanders cannot be looking ahead to which beachwear to pack.
The Islanders tend not to be that kind of group but it is true the Islanders come to the finish line of this pre-Olympic break schedule thoroughly exhausted. Thursday marks their sixth game in nine days and eighth in 13 days. Subjecting NHL players to that sort of grueling schedule to squeeze in an Olympic break seems almost unconscionable but the players desperately wanted to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014 so the NHL Players’ Association approved this schedule.
In other words, it is what it is and the other 31 teams are dealing with this, too.
The Islanders, clinging to third place in the Metropolitan Division while trying to overtake the Penguins for second place, are just 4-3-0 through this stretch entering Thursday’s game.
That’s after they rallied from three deficits for a 5-4 overtime win over the Penguins on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.
“I won’t say it’s a relief,” coach Patrick Roy said about the comeback. “It’s more the joy of coming back.
“I thought the fact that we were resilient makes this game be a joy. That’s sometimes how we have to feel about it. I mean, I’m not trying to find excuses for our guys here, OK? But we’re in a tough part of the schedule here. We’re playing eight games in, what? 13 days. We have one more to go. It’s a lot of hockey. It’s hard to be, every night, consistent.”
But now, it’s not about the grind of six in nine or eight in 13. It’s about one night. Thursday night. Focus for 60 or 65 minutes, then relish the vacation. There can be no looking back on beating the Devils in the first three games this season, twice by one goal but then a 9-0 victory at UBS Arena on Jan. 6. Or that the Devils will be without Team USA’s Jack Hughes (lower body) for this final match.
“It’s a huge game,” said Horvat, also acknowledging he “can’t wait” to get to Italy. “It’s another divisional rival. Another big opportunity to get two points and keep ourselves where we are in the standings. Everybody’s on our heels and it’s a tight division right now. We’ve got to get the wins that we can.”
And then after the Olympics, once the season resumes on Feb. 26 in Montreal?
Well, Darche may still need to acquire more help up front, especially if Anthony Duclair, in the second season of a four-year, $14 million deal, falls out of the rotation again. Duclair had a hat trick against the Devils on Jan. 6, starting a stretch of notching eight goals in eight games. But Duclair does not have a goal in his last seven games and was benched after getting just four shifts in the first period against the Penguins as Roy was unhappy with his defensive play.
Either Michael Bunting or Steven Stamkos from the Predators may be a possibility.
Nothing can happen roster-wise until Feb. 22. That doesn’t mean the vacation starts Thursday night for the Islanders.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
