Brett Jassey: Heavily aided by the recent addition of Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks, the Islanders are currently in the first wild card spot and getting ready to solidify their spot in the postseason.

Tyler Wodicka: The team has potential to make a playoff run, but with having more games played while being ahead of the trailing Penguins in the standings, they are not going to be able to afford many losses. Without Mat Barzal (lower-body injury) for a sustained period and newly injured Brock Nelson (upper-body injury) slightly banged up as of their recent game against the Leafs, the offense has struggled and is going to struggle more.

Junior Jake McAuliffe said, “With the point guard of their offense still injured with no timetable for his return, the Isles offense is moving, but very slowly. This output is not sustainable in a big playoff series.”

Like they have been all season, they will continue to have to rely on the stellar play of Ilya Sorokin to keep them in games. I’m optimistic about the Islanders, but appropriately cautious.

Brett Jassey: These Islanders have let us loyal fans down every time. With mounting injuries on an already-aging team, the Islanders cannot afford any more bad luck if they want to sneak into the playoffs. If they can clinch one of the final spots, they have a difficult matchup awaiting them.

Junior James Mertz said, “I don’t care about the Bruins historic record this year; they are frauds, and I honestly hope the Islanders match up with them in the first round. But, if they play the Carolina Hurricanes I am preparing for the Isles to get swept.”

But, in order to not get ahead of ourselves, we should focus on simply making the playoffs, which would be an impressive feat for first-year Head Coach Lane Lambert, who has not been dealt the easiest hand in his first season, and General Manager Lou Lamoriello, who has drawn criticism for his conservatism.