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The New York Islanders get their season began against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night time.
The two franchises are an fascinating juxtaposition of each other.
Eighteen months in the past, the hockey gods smiled on the Islanders by gifting them a win in the Draft Lottery, which allowed the club to pick out Matthew Schaefer. The 19-year-old defenseman is already the face of the franchise and one in every of the best at his place in the total league.
Logic would recommend that the Isles ought to have moved heaven and earth to make the team round Schaefer better as shortly as doable, however normal supervisor Mathieu Darche has opted to take a more affected person strategy, for better or worse.
John Chayka, the new normal supervisor of the Maple Leafs, has gone in a different path in the same scenario. Three months in the past, Toronto was blessed by the hockey gods and gained the 2026 Draft Lottery, which allowed the Leafs to take Gavin McKenna. Instead of being affected person, Chayka shortly revamped the team. He introduced in 11 new regulars, including Kirill Marchenko, just two days in the past.
While the fanbase in Toronto has been reinvigorated after a awful 2025-26 campaign, the Islanders fanbase is simmering. The Leafs are now -122 to make the playoffs at FanDuel Sportsbook, while the Isles are +290, tied with Detroit for the longest odds in the Eastern Conference.
If the Islanders are going to upset those odds, they’ll must get off to a strong start. This team just doesn’t have the expertise, particularly with Mat Barzal injured, to make up floor.
The path to a strong start for the Islanders should be again to entrance. The Isles don’t have the offensive firepower to overwhelm groups, so that they’ll must attempt to smother them.
On the floor, you’d suppose it might work. They’ve definitely acquired the goaltender to tug it off, and one in every of head coach Pete DeBoer’s greatest strengths is getting his team organized in the defensive zone, however this blueline seems to be prefer it may very well be a real mess, particularly with the puck.
Schaefer apart, the Islanders have one other defenseman, Tony DeAngelo, who can transport the biscuit, however he offers numerous that again together with his lack of acumen in entrance of objective.
Over time, this unit hopefully will get better under DeBoer, however I wouldn’t count on them to be well-drilled out of the gate.
Matias Maccelli will face his former club on Wednesday. Getty Images
Betting on the NHL?
The Maple Leafs have the same issue on their backend. Toronto added loads of skill up entrance, however the Buds allowed the second-most objectives in the NHL last season. I count on that drawback will linger, as the Leafs appear hell-bent on changing into a team that wins 6-5 games, moderately than one that will drill all the way down to win 3-2 contests.
In addition to the Over 6.5, I like the thought of backing Matias Maccelli to seek out the again of the web for the Islanders against his former team.
Maccelli was a standout for the Isles in preseason and earned a premium spot in the top-six and on the energy play. You ought to get a fantastic worth on Maccelli, who is understood more for his playmaking than his ending.
The Plays: Over 6.5 objectives (+112, FanDuel) | Matias Maccelli to score 1+ objectives (+350, DraftKings)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, however a long-profiting sports activities bettor with 10 years of experience in the playing trade. He loves utilizing game principle to assist punters win bracket swimming pools, discover lengthy pictures, and learn to beat the market in mainstream and area of interest sports activities.
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