Full disclosure, Anders Lee giving my son his stick in warmups in Boston did not, in any way, influence my final grade.
The spotlight was clearly on the Isles trio of Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome and Anders Lee heading into the season. Each had a disappointing 2015-16 season in their own way. Lee was coming off a 25-goal season in 2014-15. Lee's troubles began when head coach Jack Capuano inexplicably scratched the second-leading goal scorer in Games 6 and 7 against the Washington Capitals. Lee, like the majority of Islanders fans were not happy.
The Minnesota native came back and scored just 15 goals in 15/16. He was starting to heat up when his season ended abruptly when a Johnny Boychuk's slap shot broke a bone in Lee's leg one week before the start of the playoffs. Lee struggled out of the gate this past season, scoring one goal in the first 18 games. Was he doing anything different than he usually did? He was plopping his 6'3", 228 pound body in front of the net like he always did, but the puck wasn't finding the back of the net.
That all changed when the team hit the west coast. In his next 18 games, the 2009 sixth- round pick scored 13 goals. He did not stop there. Once Capuano got the ax, Lee went on a tear, scoring 19 goals in 39 games. When John Tavares was lost for the season with six games left, Lee carried the team with six goals and took the Isles to within a point of the playoffs. He finished the season with a career-high 34 goals.
Lee is the only Islander who gets in front of the net and fights for those dirty goals. Every goal counts the same. Lee, along with Tavares and Josh Bailey formed one of the more successful first lines in recent memory. It's quite possible the trio begins the 2017-18 season together
2016-17 final grade: A
Check out our previous report cards
Alan Quine Shane Prince Dennis Seidenberg Ryan Pulock Travis Hamonic Nick Leddy Thomas Greiss Josh Bailey Thomas Hickey Cal Clutterbuck Andrew Ladd Ryan Strome Jason Chimera