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Fixing anemic power play atop Islanders’ to-do list

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Cite

Sears, E. (2026, September 20). Fixing anemic power play atop Islanders’ to-do list. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/20/sports/fixing-anemic-power-play-atop-islanders-to-do-list/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-20 · by Ethan Sears

Quick Summary

Islanders coach Pete DeBoer acknowledged during training camp that improving the team's power play is crucial, as it has been ineffective for many years. DeBoer and assistant Rocky Thompson are implementing new strategies focusing on player movement rather than static positioning to enhance performance. The article details specific unit compositions and mentions players like Matthew Schaefer, Bo Horvat, Brayden Schenn, and others who will be key in this overhaul.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Pete DeBoer, head coach of the New York Islanders, acknowledged the team's struggling power play during training camp in early September 2023. The Islanders' penalty kill has been poor for several years, improving to a 16.53% success rate last season which still ranked them 30th out of 32 teams. DeBoer and assistant coach Rocky Thompson aim to overhaul the power play system, focusing on player movement rather than just puck movement. Initial training revealed potential top unit players including Matthew Schaefer, Bo Horvat, Brayden Schenn, and Cal Ritchie. The team's defensive lineup is also competitive with ongoing trials between Isaiah George and Scott Mayfield, alongside Kashawn Aitcheson, Marshall Warren, and Matt Kessel.

Written for “Nhl Islanders Power Play” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Nhl Islanders Power Play
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different teams (Islanders vs. Rangers) and their respective approaches to improving their power plays.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16932 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ethan Sears
66 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 And now the Islanders will hold their breath, hoping there is no hearing and subsequent suspension for Emil Heineman following his knee-on-knee hit to Isaac Howard that got him kicked out of Saturday’s match just 2:22 into the proceedings.
🔮 The Islanders were on their heels late in regulation, requiring a few scrambling defensive shifts to get the game to overtime, but they would eventually earn the extra point.
🔮 And second, while it might be true that three goals gives you a good chance every night, it leaves little margin for error.
🔮 To the extent there’s a worry, it’s less about the here and now and more that the mileage Schaefer accumulates as a teenager could affect him in the future.
🔮 The suggestion that Scott Mayfield may soon ask for a trade was shot down earlier this week by Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche.
🔮 DALLAS — The day before a game in which he’s set to be the main character, Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer was typically understated regarding his own return here.
🔮 Since the Islanders’ 3-2 defeat to the Kings in overtime was Eklund’s 10th game with the club this year, the Swede — who scored a power play goal in the loss— will officially burn a year of his entry-level contract.
🔮 Artemi Panarin pondered the question of whether it would feel like a homecoming of sorts to play on Long Island, and in the moment, he never really answered it.
🔮 The last scene similar to that, which greeted Brady Tkachuk in his return to the Canadian Tire Center following an unhappy divorce with the Senators, might be as far back as eight seasons ago when John Tavares was greeted with sheer hostility by the crowd at Nassau Coliseum on Feb. 28, 2019.
🔮 Do all of that and the players who are missing from the lineup will not be so front of mind.
Also by Ethan Sears
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 66 articles by Ethan Sears →

Topics

AHL Islanders NHL NHLers The Post

Subjects

DeBoer PERSON · 5× Islanders ORG · 3× Bo Horvat PERSON · 2× Emil Heineman PERSON · 2× Matthew Schaefer PERSON · 2× NHL ORG · 2× Schaefer PERSON · 2× Brayden Schenn PERSON · 1× Pete DeBoer PERSON · 1× Rocky Thompson PERSON · 1×

Narrative

DeBoer said the ultimate decision on which side Schaefer plays will come down to how the rest of the defense corps sorts out, with the competition ongoing between Isaiah George and Scott Mayfield, with Kashawn Aitcheson, Marshall Warren and Matt Kessel in the mix as well.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 DeBoer said the ultimate decision on which side Schaefer plays will come down to how the rest of the defense corps sorts out, with the competition ongoing between Isaiah George and Scott Mayfield, with Kashawn Aitcheson, Marshall Warren and Matt Kessel in the mix as well.
2026-09-20 · New York Post
Fixing anemic power play atop Islanders’ to-do list · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 0 hedged)

No one who has watched the Islanders over the past decade, or perhaps even longer, needed Pete DeBoer to remind them what the power play has looked like for the vast majority of that period. asserted
play → watch → period
Nevertheless, it was good to hear a stark acknowledgement of reality Saturday when the Islanders started work on the power play for the first time during camp. asserted
Islanders → hear → camp
“It’s not a quick fix,” DeBoer said. asserted
DeBoer → ’ → ?
Indeed, for a team that counted 16.53 percent and 30th overall on the power play as an improvement, tearing the thing down to the studs is entirely warranted. asserted
tearing → count → studs
DeBoer and Rocky Thompson, the assistant coach in charge of the power play, have their hands full. asserted
hands → have → play
The first vestiges of their work on Saturday revealed two things. asserted
vestiges → reveal → things
Second, movement of players is being stressed as much as movement of the puck. asserted
movement → stress → puck
“The good power plays are interchangeable,” DeBoer said. asserted
DeBoer → say → ?
There’s a lot of guys moving to different parts of the ice and they’re interchangeable in their positioning. asserted
they → ’ → positioning
I felt like this group was really stagnant, almost deferring to, well that’s my spot there, that’s your spot. asserted
that → feel → ?
“Guys are so good at reading plays now, you have to be more unpredictable,” Bo Horvat told The Post. asserted
Horvat → read → Post
“I think us being a little more fluid and not standing around so much is gonna help for sure.” asserted
being → think → ?
Matthew Schaefer was on the right Saturday, the first time this camp in which he’s practiced on his off side, skating on a pair with Adam Pelech. asserted
he → practice → Pelech
DeBoer said the ultimate decision on which side Schaefer plays will come down to how the rest of the defense corps sorts out, with the competition ongoing between Isaiah George and Scott Mayfield, with Kashawn Aitcheson, Marshall Warren and Matt Kessel in the mix as well. asserted
competition → say → mix
George, who formed a pair with Mayfield on Saturday, is a lefty whose presence in the lineup would likely require someone — Schaefer — to play their off side. asserted
someone → form → side
The Islanders split into NHL and AHL groups Saturday, with DeBoer only on ice with the NHLers. asserted
Islanders → split → NHLers
Victor Eklund and Aitcheson were both included in the NHL group, with Eklund continuing to skate on a line with JG Pageau and Emil Heineman. asserted
Eklund → include → Pageau
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