Unveiling the Surprising NHL Offseason Makeovers: Which Teams Are Poised to Shock the League?
What’s going a bit unnoticed is that the team’s forward group looks a lot better. Beyond a healthy Mathew Barzal, the addition of Jonathan Drouin looks like a nice bet given what he’s shown in Colorado the last two seasons. It’s possible he’s completely a product of Nathan MacKinnon, but the reward is worth that risk if he’s truly found his game as a top-six forward. Emil Heineman, while not a needle-mover, is a decent bottom-six improvement over a big drag like Kyle MacLean.
The wild card is Maxim Shabanov, who signed with the Islanders after scoring 67 points in 65 games in the KHL. It’s hard to know what Shabanov can do in the NHL given his size, but it’s worth noting that Maxim Tsyplakov, whose KHL numbers were worse, ended up being a decent third liner. If Shabanov can mirror that, the Islanders’ forward group looks a lot deeper than given credit for, even if it lacks high-end upside.
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