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 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 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 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 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===
==Schedule and results==
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
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January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)	January: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–4–2)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	January 14 	NY Islanders 	4–0 	NY Rangers 	 	Varlamov 	0 	1–0–0 	2 	Recap
2 	January 16 	NY Islanders 	0–5 	NY Rangers 	 	Sorokin 	0 	1–1–0 	2 	Recap
3 	January 18 	Boston 	0–1 	NY Islanders 	 	Varlamov 	0 	2–1–0 	4 	Recap
4 	January 21 	New Jersey 	1–4 	NY Islanders 	 	Varlamov 	0 	3–1–0 	6 	Recap
5 	January 24 	NY Islanders 	0–2 	New Jersey 	 	Sorokin 	0 	3–2–0 	6 	Recap
6 	January 26 	NY Islanders 	2–3 	Washington 	 	Varlamov 	0 	3–3–0 	6 	Recap
7 	January 28 	NY Islanders 	3–6 	Washington 	 	Varlamov 	0 	3–4–0 	6 	Recap
8 	January 30 	NY Islanders 	2–3 	Philadelphia 	OT 	Varlamov 	0 	3–4–1 	7 	Recap
9 	January 31 	NY Islanders 	3–4 	Philadelphia 	OT 	Sorokin 	0 	3–4–2 	8 	Recap
===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.
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East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2	East Division First Round vs. (E1) Pittsburgh Penguins: New York won 4–2
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Series 	Recap
1 	May 16 	NY Islanders 	4–3 	Pittsburgh 	OT 	Sorokin 	4,672 	1–0 	Recap
2 	May 18 	NY Islanders 	1–2 	Pittsburgh 	 	Varlamov 	9,344 	1–1 	Recap
3 	May 20 	Pittsburgh 	5–4 	NY Islanders 	 	Varlamov 	6,800 	1–2 	Recap
4 	May 22 	Pittsburgh 	1–4 	NY Islanders 	 	Sorokin 	6,800 	2–2 	Recap
5 	May 24 	NY Islanders 	3–2 	Pittsburgh 	2OT 	Sorokin 	9,344 	3–2 	Recap
6 	May 26 	Pittsburgh 	3–5 	NY Islanders 	 	Sorokin 	9,000 	4–2 	Recap
==Player statistics==
As of June 9, 2021
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	55	17	28	45	+15	48
 	54	8 	27	35	+12	4
 	56	18	15	33	 	14
 	55	16	17	33	+9 	16
 	56	2 	29	31	 	8
 	47	15	13	28	+15	12
 	54	14	14	28	+10	10
 	44	12	9 	21	+2 	21
 	27	12	7 	19	+11	12
 	56	2 	15	17	+15	8
 	56	2 	13	15	+2 	38
 	56	7 	7 	14	 	27
 	56	4 	10	14	+15	18
 	46	3 	11	14	+1 	8
 	54	6 	5 	11	 	36
 	50	4 	7 	11	 	10
 	33	1 	7 	8 	+7 	15
 	55	1 	4 	5 	+9 	6
† 	17	2 	2 	4 	 	2
 	26	1 	3 	4 	+1 	4
 	14	3 	0 	3 	0 	4
 	3 	1 	1 	2 	 	2
† 	13	1 	1 	2 	 	0
 	5 	0 	2 	2 	+5 	0
 	12	0 	1 	1 	 	35
† 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	4
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	 	0
 	4 	0 	0 	0 	 	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	12	3	10	13	+11	2
 	12	5	6 	11	0 	4
 	12	4	7 	11	0 	2
 	12	6	4 	10	+2 	0
 	12	7	2 	9 	+6 	4
 	12	3	6 	9 	 	4
 	12	3	5 	8 	 	4
 	12	0	7 	7 	+1 	0
 	12	3	2 	5 	+2 	2
 	12	1	4 	5 	+12	11
 	12	0	5 	5 	+5 	2
 	12	3	1 	4 	+6 	4
 	12	2	2 	4 	+2 	2
 	5 	1	2 	3 	+2 	8
 	12	0	3 	3 	0 	0
 	12	1	1 	2 	+1 	6
 	7 	1	1 	2 	+4 	0
 	12	0	0 	0 	+2 	15
 	12	0	0 	0 	+1 	8
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	36	35	2,116:56	19	11	4	72	2.04	1,020	.929	7	0	1	2
 	22	21	1,271:47	13	6 	3	46	2.17	563 	.918	3	0	0	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	5	5	335:35	4	1	13	2.32	198	.934	0	0	0	2
 	7	7	434:44	4	3	19	2.62	253	.925	0	0	0	0
†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.
==Roster==
==Transactions==
The Islanders have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Colorado AvalancheKyle Burroughs 	To New York IslandersA. J. Greer 	
 	To Colorado AvalancheDevon Toews 	To New York Islanders2nd-round pick in 20212nd-round pick in 2022	
 	To Detroit Red WingsFuture considerations 	To New York IslandersDmytro Timashov 	
 	To New Jersey DevilsA. J. GreerMason Jobst1st-round pick in 2021Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022	To New York IslandersKyle PalmieriTravis Zajac 	
 	To Ottawa Senators7th-round pick in 2022 	To New York IslandersBraydon Coburn 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Christopher Gibson	to Tampa Bay Lightning 	1-year 	
 	Thomas Greiss 	to Detroit Red Wings 	2-year 	
 	Austin Czarnik 	from Calgary Flames 	2-year 	
 	Seth Helgeson 	to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Jared Coreau 	to Bratislava Capitals (IHL) 	1-year 	
 	Derick Brassard 	to Arizona Coyotes 	1-year 	
 	Travis St. Denis 	to Binghamton Devils (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Jordan Schmaltz 	to Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Tom Kuhnackl 	to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Andrew Ladd 	to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Ken Appleby 	from Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL)	2-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player	Team	Ref
 	 	 	
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player	Via	Ref
 	 	 	
===Retirement===
Date	Player 	Ref
 	Johnny Boychuk	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Sebastian Aho 	2-year 	
 	Grant Hutton 	2-year 	
 	A. J. Greer 	1-year 	
 	Josh Ho-Sang 	1-year 	
 	Mitchell Vande Sompel	2-year 	
 	Parker Wotherspoon 	2-year 	
 	Ryan Pulock 	2-year 	
 	Mathew Barzal 	3-year 	
 	Andy Greene 	1-year 	
 	Matt Martin 	4-year 	
 	Cory Schneider 	1-year 	
 	Robin Salo 	2-year 	
 	Anatolii Golyshev 	1-year 	
 	Collin Adams 	2-year 	
 	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, Quebec, 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 (League)
3 	90 	Alexander Ljungkrantz	LW 	 	Brynäs IF J20 (J20 SuperElit)
4 	121	Alex Jefferies 	LW 	 	The Frederick Gunn School (Connecticut)
5 	152	William Dufour 	RW 	 	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
6 	183	Matias Rajaniemi 	D 	 	Lahti Pelicans (Liiga)
7 	214	Henrik Tikkanen 	G 	 	IPH (Mestis)
==Notes==
==References==
Category:New York Islanders seasons
New York Islanders