Wait Til Next Year, New York
Losses on consecutive nights by the Devils and Knicks last week marked the end of the winter sports season for our five New York area teams as well as the 20th anniversary since the last time one of them brought home a championship trophy. Of the other 14 other metropolitan areas that field NBA and NHL franchises, only three (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, and Philadelphia) have endured longer droughts.
Again, that’s with five opportunities every year, whereas the only other city with more than two such teams is Los Angeles.
At least all five qualified for the postseason, the first time that occurred since 1994. Unfortunately, their combined playoff records were 16-24, with the Islanders, Rangers, and Nets all failing to advance out of their respective first rounds.
So we wait til next year. We’re used to it. Until then, let’s look at how each team is trending toward that elusive title:
New York Knicks
Falling to the play-in Heat in Friday night’s Game 6 was disappointing, but the big picture looks brighter than it’s been since the turn of the century. Jalen Brunson, a steal of a free agent pickup last summer, is probably the franchise’s best point guard since Walt Frazier during the heyday 1970s. There are enough young pieces and future draft picks for the organization to package in pursuit of a second star superior to Julius Randle. And they have a coach in Tom Thibodeau who has a knack for getting the most out of his talent. Even if the offseason NBA market is less fruitful with stars than in recent years and they’re forced to run it back, the Knicks are a team on the rise.
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Brooklyn Nets
A franchise so turbulent it makes its fans sick. In the span of a year, the Nets have gone from boasting a historic Big 3 to a big nothing (let’s not go overboard just yet on Mikal Bridges). With its second consecutive first round sweep, Brooklyn has now lost its last 10 playoff games. The only reason they even earned a playoff berth this season was because of the head start provided by superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving before they were traded in February. As currently constructed, this is a lottery team. Where do they go from here? My guess is that they’re going to try to be relevant next season, but I can’t think of any move they can make that would vault them back to anywhere close to title contention. I don’t take great pleasure in the demises of KD, Kyrie and James Harden this season; I only lament what could have been and what has come in their place.
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New York Rangers
Heads have already started to roll, with Head Coach Gerard Gallant receiving a pink slip, following their Game 7 loss to New Jersey in the first round. Gallant and Chris Drury reportedly engaged in a heated argument during the series, though I wonder if the General Manager’s ire was misdirected. They did finish the regular season with 107 points, just six behind Metropolitan Division leader Carolina. Many of the team’s top players, most notably $11.6 million man Artemi Panarin, underperformed against the Devils. This is still an extremely talented club with a goaltender in Igor Shesterkin who is capable of stealing a series or more on his own. New York may have gone a bit overboard in skill acquisitions this season to the detriment of the intense forechecking necessary in postseason play. Needing to count every penny this offseason when it comes to re-signing veteran stars Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, it will be interesting to see what Drury prioritizes. Otherwise, it could be his head on the chopping block next year.
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New York Islanders
Under General Manager Lou Lamoriello, this has become a “win-now” franchise that just doesn’t do enough winning—at least in the regular season. I guess it’s better than the pre-Lou 23 years between playoff round victories that ended in 2016, but I don’t think this plan will bring Stanley Cup No. 5 to Long Island either. The goal for every season always seems to be to just sneak into the playoffs, where then they could apply their heavy, gritty games (plus good goaltending) which tends to give opponents fits. It worked for two consecutive seasons in 2020 and 2021, when New York was one of the last teams in the Eastern Conference to qualify but still went on runs to the Conference Final. Finishing as the de facto seventh seed this season, they were knocked out by Carolina in six games. For a team that has offloaded every first round pick since 2019 (including this year’s) in attempts to go for broke, they might be broken—between the salary cap crunch and dearth of blue chip prospects, how can they get much better? They do have some players who possess all the ingredients to succeed—top-end skill, defense, goaltending—it’s just not enough.
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New Jersey Devils
Though New Jersey’s campaign ended just four days ago, the anticipation over what comes next is already off the charts. The Devils set all kinds of team and individual records in finishing with the league’s third-best point total and then outlasted the Rangers in the first round in a Game 7 at The Rock. What a season after a decade mired in irrelevancy. Assuming General Manager Tom Fitzgerald can reasonably manage the salary cap to run most of his club that shocked the hockey world during the regular season back, this team shouldn’t be a one-hit wonder. Goaltending is still an issue—no, it’s no longer god-awful, but merely average doesn’t get it done in the playoffs. The internal versus external debates will be interesting, especially given the fact that 13 of the Devils 25 playoff participants don’t have contracts for next season. Funny how the least popular among the area teams is the one that is currently closest to ending the drought—as if the 20-minute train ride from downtown Manhattan was a transcontinental journey.
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And with that, I will be taking a break from my usual regular postings—I’ve provided content for 187 of the last 240 days, and that includes the two weeks I took off to get a hip replacement. Between the postings of new musings, the archives are always open—they’re free of charge for your perusal. Enjoy your summer, everyone!
Thanks Steve for your dedicated writing and articles