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Things are a little prickly in Islander Country right now.
After getting off to an encouraging 15-8-0 start to the season, the Isles slowed down through December and will now limp into the second half on a 7-9-2 stretch. Had the Islanders not banked 30 points from their first 23 games, they would be toast, but as it stands now, they are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, though Pittsburgh has two games in hand on them.
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Given their recent form — the Isles looked dreadful in a 1-3 road trip through Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary — it’s easy to understand why fans and some media members are abandoning hope. But often, when a team goes through a stretch like this or reaches a checkpoint such as the halfway mark of a season, the best thing to do is to take a look at the betting market to get an idea of where things truly stand.
And wouldn’t you know it, despite the ups, downs, twists, and turns of a dramatically inconsistent first half, the Islanders are basically in the same spot on the oddsboard that they were when the puck dropped back in October.
Coming into 2022-23, the Isles were a 55/1 outsider to win the Stanley Cup with an Over/Under of 91.5 points, and they were priced as a slight underdog to make the playoffs (between +100 and +110, depending on the sportsbook).
After 41 games, the Islanders are on pace for 92 points and their Stanley Cup odds are sitting in the same range from the preseason. The Isles are now between 40/1 (BetMGM) and 55/1, while their playoff odds are as low as +104 and as high as +145. In other words, the Islanders are basically right back where they started from — an underdog to make the postseason, but not a long shot by any stretch.
New York Islanders Defenceman Sebastian Aho Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
And those odds seem a fair assessment of the team and its chances to make a charge toward a playoff spot in the second half. The Isles showed some impressive flashes through the first half of the season, but their inconsistent performances have kept them from ever getting truly comfortable in a playoff spot. That made them susceptible to any adversity, so when the injury bug bit the Isles, things went south.
There are reasons to be sour on the Islanders’ chances to make a run in the second half. The Metropolitan Division is a gauntlet, the team desperately needs a scoring winger, and there are a handful of players in the midst of disappointing seasons.
But there are also reasons to believe the Isles can stabilize and hang around this race. The Islanders have the league’s best goaltending tandem, they’re deep down the middle, and they should be getting Kyle Palmieri, Adam Pelech, and Simon Holmstrom back relatively soon.
Betting on the NHL?
Things change quickly in the NHL. A month ago, the Islanders looked to be on solid footing. Now, they’re on thin ice. But there are still 41 games left and plenty of ways this season can pan out. One cold streak could tank the Isles, but one hot streak could put them right back in the mix for a top-3 spot in the Metropolitan Division.
And as the betting market suggests, it’s anybody’s guess where the Islanders will go from here.