Quoting: HockeyIsMyPassion61
Show me where they've improved over last year? They finished 13th overall and haven't done a thing to improve their current roster this year. Even if Sorokin steals a few games it won't be enough.
the Islanders finished 9th in the conference last year, not 13th (ie, they had the best record of teams that missed the playoffs in the eastern conference)
-they turned their LD2/LD3 depth chart from Zdeno Chara & Andy Greene into Alexander Romanov & Robin Salo;
-they are starting the season with both of the goalies in their tandem fully healthy and ready to go;
-they are *not* starting the season with a meandering 13-game road trip that prevents them from building any sort of rhythm;
-we are all hoping that COVID will not be playing havoc with this year's NHL games and forcing the Senators and Islanders to play multiple games with half their AHL teams on emergency loan because of positive COVID tests before the league actually postpones a game
And for what it's worth - the Caps are the oldest team in the league and will be missing Tom Wilson for a good chunk fo the year and Nick Backstrom for potentially the whole season; Pittsburgh turned John Marino & Mike Matheson into Jeff Petry & a guy that's playing in the AHL for them right now and is relying on a ton of guys in their mid/late-30s to keep up their level of play & stay healthy; and the Rangers go the way their goalie goes - if Igor struggles they're going to struggle, too. Carolina's good, though - they probably win the division again.