from Ethan Sears of the New York Post,

The organizational reaction to what is likely to be a third straight season of failing to get past the first round is going to say everything about how serious the Islanders really are about building a contender.

Assuming there is not a miracle in store with the Isles down 3-0 to Carolina and facing elimination on Saturday, there are no excuses left to stick with the group yet again unless ownership is content to ask season-ticket holders to fork over 11 percent more next season to watch a team dead-ending its way to mediocrity.

This offseason represents a natural jumping-off point for the Islanders to retool, even if a full rebuild is out of the question given how many players are under long-term contracts. Even if it means being a little bit worse next year, the Islanders need to take that path, because this isn’t working.

Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin, Oliver Wahlstrom, Simon Holmstrom, Kyle MacLean, Mike Reilly, Robert Bortuzzo and Sebastian Aho are all on expiring contracts. Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov are going into the last years of their respective deals; Jean-Gabriel Pageau will have two seasons left, as will Anders Lee.

Extending Dobson, Romanov and MacLean should be no-brainers — all three are young, talented, restricted free agents and can be part of the core when the Islanders are next ready to contend for a Cup, whenever that might be.

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