Justin Geraci | 10.8.26

The mushy middle.

You’ve heard it before.

It, of course, means that your team is stuck in the, well, mushy middle of the standings. Not good enough to make an impact in the playoffs, but not bad enough to pick at the top of the lottery. Ask around and you’ll hear from most people that the mushy middle is the worst place for a franchise to find itself.

The Mushy Middle

The mushy middle. The franchise is essentially in limbo. Directionless. Rudderless. Define it however you’d like, but that is what you’ll hear if you were to ask a fan base of a team in the mushy middle of their league. There are two ways to get out of the mushy middle. First, improve your team and make a run at it. Second, work hard to … get worse.

The right approach to the mushy middle is a topic for another time.

I’m of the mind that in a competitive business like professional sports, where top dollar is asked of the paying public, anything short of a franchise giving its best effort is unacceptable. But, it’s like I said, that’s a topic for another time.

The Mushy Middle and the New York Islanders

The New York Islanders look to be a team that will once again find itself in the mushy middle of the NHL. That means they’ve got two possible solutions: get better or get worse. It really is that simple to a large portion of the fan base.

Don’t believe me? Check out the Islanders Reddit page sometime.

The issue at hand is that the New York Islanders are sending mixed messages. Some of them are intentional and others not. Their play on the ice to close out the 2025-2026 season suggested that they’re far from being able to compete in a meaningful way. Their power play performance would tell anyone watching that competing for the Stanley Cup isn’t a realistic goal.

Then there is Ilya Sorokin and Matthew Schaefer. Without intending to do so, the Islanders left fans wondering what the team would look like without Ilya Sorokin performing at an absolute elite level. They also leave the fans wondering what would’ve happened if they didn’t get a generational rookie season from Matthew Schaefer. If the team was truly ready to compete with the best teams in the NHL, would Sorokin and Schaefer have had to carry the team to the degree they did?

Those were, of course, unintentional messages. Unintentional messages that said the New York Islanders are not ready to win, I mean really win, right now.

However, there were plenty of intentional messages over the last year that suggest the New York Islanders do believe they’re ready to win right now. At the same time, there are intentional messages that suggest they’re looking to the future.

Confused? You’re not alone.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top 3 moves the New York Islanders made over the last year that suggest they’re not quite sure if it’s time to win now or “retool”.

Move #1: Brayden Schenn

In March of this year, the St. Louis Blues sent Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders in exchange for Jonathan Drouin, Marcus Gidlof, one first-round pick and one third-round pick.

In completing this move, the Islanders now have a veteran at 35 years of age, on year 7 of an 8 year contract with a cap hit of $6.5M. At face value, this suggests the Islanders believe they are ready to compete now. Why else would they acquire a player at Schenn’s age and cap hit?

More than that, dealing draft picks, much less a first-round pick, is not something a franchise with its eye on the future does. Trading away a first and a third? And a prospect? That’s the sort of move a team makes because they’re thinking about winning right now.

This isn’t a commentary on Schenn’s performance or value to the Islanders. It’s not even commentary on whether it was a good trade or not. It’s a simple example of the Islanders telling the fans they believe they’re in “win now” mode.

Move #2: Ondrej Palat 

In January of this year, the New Jersey Devils sent Ondrej Palat  to the New York Islanders. In return, they received Maxim Tsyplakov.

A straight-up trade right? Well, in the words of Lee Corso, “not so fast”.

In addition to Palat, the Islanders received a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft. Remember what I mentioned about draft picks a few moments ago? About how a team looking to build for the future probably wouldn’t trade them? Well, what about a team acquiring them?

Palat is in the final year of his 7-year contact in 2026-20267, with a cap hit of $6M. It’s not a contract that is going to burden the cap beyond this year, at least not in its current form. Still, those two picks make it seem like the Islanders are looking at the future, not this season.

Then there is Maxim Tsyplakov. Prior to this season, he had only competed in 126 NHL games. Included in those games was a very productive rookie year for the Islanders in the 2024-2025 season. The 24-25 campaign saw Maxim record 35 points in the form of 10 goals and 25 assists in 77 games played.

So, draft picks mean it’s about the future, but trading a player as young as Tsyplakov, with the rookie year he had, that isn’t a move a team generally makes if they’re focused on the future.

Whether you think the trade was good or bad, it’s a confusing one. Whether you think Tsyplakov will live up to his potential or not isn’t the point.

Move #3: Isaiah George/Kashawn Aitcheson/Cole Eiserman

Prior to the beginning of this season, The New York Islanders made the decision to send Isaiah George, Kashawn Aitcheson and Cole Eiserman to the AHL.

There are a lot of reasons why. Some of them have to do with moving some pretty important pieces around the ice on the defensive end. Others have to do with what’s best for a prospect, sitting on the bench of getting ice time in the AHL. Others, still, have to do with pure development.

Whether or not assigning these players to the AHL was the right call is up for debate. But for our purposes, that’s not what it is important.

With George, Aitcheson and Eiserman in Hamilton, the Islanders are sending the message they’re ready to compete right now.

Where To Go Next

In the Brayden Schenn trade, the Islanders told the fans they’re ready to win and win now.

With the Ondrej Palat trade, the team told the fans they’re not quite sure what they’re ready to do. A little of this and a little of that. Win now and build for the future.

In sending Isaiah George, Kashawn Aitcheson and Cole Eiserman to the AHL, Islanders fans were told once again that the team is ready to win now.

Whether you like these moves or you don’t, you’d be hard-pressed not to find yourself a little confused about the direction of the Islanders. And look, we’re just a few games into the NHL season, and a team’s direction tends to become a lot clearer based on their play on the ice. I have little doubt this will be the case with the 2026-2027 New York Islanders.

Until that point, I’m a little confused about what’s next for the Islanders.

How about you?