Boston Bruins

Not much of an argument here. Bergeron, Marchand, Backes, not to mention current 19 goal scorer David Pastrnak, accompanied by guys like David Krejci and Ryan Spooner prevail over any Isles grouping.

Buffalo Sabres

All-star selection and former Islander Kyle Okposo leads the way here. Having a guy as talented as Jack Eichel, mixed in with veterans like Ryan O’Reilly, captain Brian Gionta, and former fan favorite Matty Moulson (not to mention Evander Kane and young winger Sam Reinhart) helps Buffalo prevail in this matchup.

Detroit Red Wings

If you were to look at the stat sheet, you would think Detroit is led by captain Henrik Zetterberg and two former veteran Isles in Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen, but drops off after wards. However, this drop-off is simply due to underperforming players. Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, and Dylan Larkin are all too talented to be under .5 points per game kind of players. Not to mention young stud Anthony Mantha has been pretty good this season. You could definitely argue a few Isles would make this grouping, but wouldn’t be more than two or three. I’d take Detroit.

Florida Panthers

The banged up Panthers, when healthy, have a much better top 6 then the Islanders. Even without the injured Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau, you could still probably argue that Florida’s top 6 is still better. Sasha Barkov, the never-aging Jaromir Jagr, Vinny Trocheck, Reilly Smith, and breakout forward Jonathan Marchessault could still keep pace with the Isles forward grouping. Let that sink in.

Montreal Canadiens

Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, and Tomas Plekanec would all be the 2nd best forwards on the isles. Okay, maybe you could argue Brock Nelson and Anders Lee over Tomas Plekanec, but the fact that you even need to think about that should alarm you, Isles fans.

Ottawa Senators

The Sens have a top six group up front that I is very underrated. Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Mike Hoffman, Derek Brassard, even with one of the more overrated players in the league in Bobby Ryan and any other forward you may choose, they would beat out the Isles. People seem surprised by the success Ottawa has had this year, but aside from stud Erik Karlsson, the top 6 truly carries the Sens and deserves a lot of this credit.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Isles fans, we learned this answer in round two of the playoffs last year. Even without Steven Stamkos, the top 6 is still more dangerous than the Isles’.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Jack Capuano and Garth Snow should take note here. Look what happens when you give top prospects top 6 minutes under a good coach at a young age. Not being scratched every other game for missing a check in the minors helps tremendously. But once again, the Isles lose this matchup, as Auston Matthews is already proving how elite he will be for years to come. Also having young studs like Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and guys like JVR, Kadri, and Bozak to help the kids out prevails over likely anyone except John Tavares.