# 2020–21 New York Islanders season

The 2020–21 New York Islanders season was the 49th season in the franchise's history. It was their first full season in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum since returning to the arena full-time for the 2020–21 season, as well as their 45th overall and final season in the arena. In June 2020, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum's leaseholder announced that the arena would be closed and seek a new leaseholder, which was found in August 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the Islanders played a shortened 56-game regular season, which consisted of divisional play only, with the Islanders being temporarily realigned from the Metropolitan Division to the East Division.
Fan attendance in home games was prohibited until February 23, per an executive order from Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo. The Islanders reopened Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to spectators on March 18.
The team made the playoffs for the third straight season when they defeated the New York Rangers on May 1, 2021. This marked the first time since the 2003–04 season that the Islanders clinched a playoff spot for a third consecutive season. They would go on to defeat the division champions Pittsburgh Penguins in the First round in six games. Game 6 of the series was the first series-clinching game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum since 1993. After defeating Pittsburgh, the Islanders would later compete against the Boston Bruins in the Second round and defeat them in six games. They competed against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, where they were defeated in seven games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

East Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | 56 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 196 | 156 | +40 | 77 |
| 2 | x – Washington Capitals | 56 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 29 | 191 | 163 | +28 | 77 |
| 3 | x – Boston Bruins | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 25 | 168 | 136 | +32 | 73 |
| 4 | x – New York Islanders | 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 156 | 128 | +28 | 71 |
| 5 | e – New York Rangers | 56 | 27 | 23 | 6 | 24 | 177 | 157 | +20 | 60 |
| 6 | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 56 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 163 | 201 | −38 | 58 |
| 7 | e – New Jersey Devils | 56 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 15 | 145 | 194 | −49 | 45 |
| 8 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 56 | 15 | 34 | 7 | 11 | 138 | 199 | −61 | 37 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
  Postponement :

### Playoffs

The Islanders faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, defeating them in six games.
The Islanders faced the Boston Bruins in the second round, defeating them in six games.
The Islanders faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, where they lost in seven games.
2021 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

As of June 25, 2021

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mathew Barzal | 55 | 17 | 28 | 45 | +15 | 48 |
| Josh Bailey | 54 | 8 | 27 | 35 | +12 | 4 |
| Brock Nelson | 56 | 18 | 15 | 33 | –5 | 14 |
| Jordan Eberle | 55 | 16 | 17 | 33 | +9 | 16 |
| Nick Leddy | 56 | 2 | 29 | 31 | –3 | 8 |
| Anthony Beauvillier | 47 | 15 | 13 | 28 | +15 | 12 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | 54 | 14 | 14 | 28 | +10 | 10 |
| Oliver Wahlstrom | 44 | 12 | 9 | 21 | +2 | 21 |
| Anders Lee | 27 | 12 | 7 | 19 | +11 | 12 |
| Ryan Pulock | 56 | 2 | 15 | 17 | +15 | 8 |
| Scott Mayfield | 56 | 2 | 13 | 15 | +2 | 38 |
| Casey Cizikas | 56 | 7 | 7 | 14 | –2 | 27 |
| Adam Pelech | 56 | 4 | 10 | 14 | +15 | 18 |
| Noah Dobson | 46 | 3 | 11 | 14 | +1 | 8 |
| Matt Martin | 54 | 6 | 5 | 11 | –2 | 36 |
| Cal Clutterbuck | 50 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −5 | 10 |
| Leo Komarov | 33 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +7 | 15 |
| Andy Greene | 55 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +9 | 6 |
| Kyle Palmieri$^†$ | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –3 | 2 |
| Michael Dal Colle | 26 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +1 | 4 |
| Kieffer Bellows | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Sebastian Aho | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| Travis Zajac$^†$ | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
| Thomas Hickey | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +5 | 0 |
| Ross Johnston | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –3 | 35 |
| Braydon Coburn$^†$ | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Dmytro Timashov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Austin Czarnik | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mathew Barzal | 19 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| Josh Bailey | 19 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −2 | 4 |
| Anthony Beauvillier | 19 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −1 | 4 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | 19 | 3 | 10 | 13 | +9 | 6 |
| Brock Nelson | 19 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −1 | 4 |
| Jordan Eberle | 19 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −1 | 4 |
| Kyle Palmieri | 19 | 7 | 2 | 9 | +5 | 10 |
| Cal Clutterbuck | 19 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +5 | 10 |
| Noah Dobson | 19 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +1 | 0 |
| Ryan Pulock | 19 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −3 | 4 |
| Scott Mayfield | 19 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +12 | 25 |
| Nick Leddy | 19 | 0 | 6 | 6 | +2 | 2 |
| Casey Cizikas | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Adam Pelech | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 13 |
| Oliver Wahlstrom | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +2 | 8 |
| Leo Komarov | 19 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 14 |
| Matt Martin | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 43 |
| Travis Zajac | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Andy Greene | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 8 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Semyon Varlamov | 36 | 35 | 2,116:56 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 72 | 2.04 | 1,020 | .929 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ilya Sorokin | 22 | 21 | 1,271:47 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 46 | 2.17 | 563 | .918 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Semyon Varlamov | 14 | 14 | 797:26 | 7 | 7 | 34 | 2.56 | 437 | .922 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ilya Sorokin | 7 | 5 | 386:58 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 2.79 | 230 | .922 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* $^†$ Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Islanders. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
* $^‡$ Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
* Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Awards and honors
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Date |
| Lou Lamoriello | Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award | June 22, 2021 |

## Transactions

The Islanders have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11) | To Colorado AvalancheKyle Burroughs | To New York IslandersA. J. Greer |
| October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12) | To Colorado AvalancheDevon Toews | To New York Islanders2nd-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2022 |
| December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11) | To Detroit Red WingsFuture considerations | To New York IslandersDmytro Timashov |
| April 7, 2021 (2021-04-07) | To New Jersey DevilsA. J. Greer Mason Jobst 1st-round pick in 2021 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022 | To New York IslandersKyle Palmieri Travis Zajac |
| April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11) | To Ottawa Senators7th-round pick in 2022 | To New York IslandersBraydon Coburn |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Christopher Gibson | to Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Thomas Greiss | to Detroit Red Wings | 2-year |
| October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13) | Austin Czarnik | from Calgary Flames | 2-year |
| October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29) | Seth Helgeson | to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | 1-year |
| December 23, 2020 (2020-12-23) | Jared Coreau | to Bratislava Capitals (IHL) | 1-year |
| December 30, 2020 (2020-12-30) | Derick Brassard | to Arizona Coyotes | 1-year |
| January 9, 2021 (2021-01-09) | Travis St. Denis | to Binghamton Devils (AHL) | 1-year |
| January 21, 2021 (2021-01-21) | Jordan Schmaltz | to Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) | 1-year |
| January 22, 2021 (2021-01-22) | Tom Kuhnackl | to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | 1-year |
| January 22, 2021 (2021-01-22) | Andrew Ladd | to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | 1-year |
| April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09) | Ken Appleby | from Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | 2-year |

### Retirement

| Date | Player | Ref |
| November 25, 2020 (2020-11-25) | Johnny Boychuk | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| October 5, 2020 (2020-10-05) | Sebastian Aho | 2-year |
| October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13) | Grant Hutton | 2-year |
| October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) | A. J. Greer | 1-year |
| October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) | Josh Ho-Sang | 1-year |
| October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) | Mitchell Vande Sompel | 2-year |
| October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) | Parker Wotherspoon | 2-year |
| November 4, 2020 (2020-11-04) | Ryan Pulock | 2-year |
| January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11) | Mathew Barzal | 3-year |
| January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11) | Andy Greene | 1-year |
| January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11) | Matt Martin | 4-year |
| January 14, 2021 (2021-01-14) | Cory Schneider | 1-year |
| February 12, 2021 (2021-02-12) | Robin Salo | 2-year |
| March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19) | Anatolii Golyshev | 1-year |
| April 14, 2021 (2021-04-14) | Collin Adams | 2-year |
| May 13, 2021 (2021-05-13) | Reece Newkirk | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the New York Islanders' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on October 6 and 7, 2020, in a remote format, with teams convening via videoconferencing, and Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing selections from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 3 | 90 | Alexander Ljungkrantz | LW | Sweden | Brynäs IF J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 4 | 121 | Alex Jefferies | LW | United States | The Frederick Gunn School (Connecticut) |
| 5 | 152 | William Dufour | RW | Canada | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 183 | Matias Rajaniemi | D | Finland | Lahti Pelicans (Liiga) |
| 7 | 214 | Henrik Tikkanen | G | Finland | IPH (Mestis) |