Islanders’ roster stability will be challenged this offseason

The lay of the land in the NHL, as Islanders head coach Barry Trotz likes to put it, is that teams go through personnel changes during every offseason.

But the Islanders are a rare case. A majority of the team has been playing together for years. There are 17 players on the current roster — 11 of whom actually played this postseason — who were on the team in 2017-18, before Trotz became head coach. Even going back to 2013-14, eight players from that season’s roster are still with the team and six played major roles in their postseason run to the Stanley Cup semifinal in Josh Bailey, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, Scott Mayfield, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas. It’s what made the Islanders’ Game 7 loss to the Lightning on Friday night all the more difficult to accept: The Islanders know they are potentially facing some significant changes in the locker room.