The John Tavares chapter in this Islandersstory officially Davis Mills Jersey is closed, and it wasthe worst po sible ending for the franchise.While Tavares gets to return home to play for his childhood team, and might represent Torontos best chance to end its five-decade Stanley Cup drought, the Islanders are left empty-handed and looking for a way to start over.The whole thing has to be depre sing for Islanders fans.For nine years, they got the best hockey of Tavares career and were never able to build a competent team around him that could getwithin a stone's throw of a championship. They mi sed the playoffs six times, and despite the fact Tavares averaged just under a point per game in his 24 playoff games, they made it out of the first round just one time.WINNERS & LOSERS:Then, after a yearlong saga where the constant question was Will he or wont he re-sign, Tavaresleft for Toronto, leaving the Islanders with nothing to show for the best player the organization has seen since the early 1980s dynasty years.It is rough.Now new general manager Lou Lamoriello is left to pick up the pieces. How he goes about doing that is still very much a mystery at this point.The most frustrating thing for Islanders fans has to be that, with a few minor tweaks, the Islanders with Tavares back in the fold could have been an interesting team. They were a top-10 offensive team during the 2017-18 season and, with Tavares alongside rookie of the year Mathew Barzal, could have had a fierce one-two punch down the middle of their lineup to build around. Their biggest i sue was the fact and routinely gave up just as much in their own end as they were able to create in the offensive zone.To this point in the offseason, the Islandersnot only lost Tavares, they also lost (after trading Travis Hamonic a year ago),brought in a collection of depth forwards Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Valtteri Filppula and on a one-year contract in goal.MORE:Off-season additionsHere's a look at which teams have added the most this off-season through signings and trades.*Fun note: all of NYI's additions have carried negative values (i.e. below replacement level)* Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) None of that is particularly exciting, and it does not even get into the fact that two of their best returning forwards Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle are entering the final year of their contracts and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the conclusion of it. That almost certainly makes them potential trade candidates at some point this season, as J J Watt T Shirts Lamoriello really cannot afford to risk losing them for nothing after having that same thing happen to Tavares.All of this leaves the Islanders with a number of questions.One of the biggest is what they should expect this season from Lee.Over the past two years, he has been one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL. He has done all of that while riding shotgun alongside Tavares on the Islanders top line. While it would be unfair to Lee to suggest he was simply a product of playing alongside Tavares, it is worth wondering what we should expect from him with a new center, even one as good as Barzal. It is obvious that Tavares and Lee had a pretty special chemistry.Eventhough Barzal has the potential to be a fine No. 1 center, having him bumped up to that role means you no longer have him as the second-line center on the depth chart. Everyone else below him gets bumped up into a role they are probably not suited for.GRETZ:Given the fact the Islanders were not good enough to make the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and have not really done anything to improve their chances for this upcoming season, it would not be an unfair a sumption to think that they are likely to fall short again. Especially playing in a division that has won the last three Stanley Cups, an emerging team in New Jersey that boasts thereigning league MVP, a Columbus team that has made the playoffs two years in a Rex Burkhead Jersey row and should still be strong, a Philadelphia team that just added a top-line goal-scorer in James van Riemsdyk, and a Carolina team that and a potential superstar at the top of the draft.The Islandersare not only a worse team, but practically every team around them is on the opposite trajectory.Other than maybe the rebuilding Rangers, is there a team in this division that you can comfortably say the Islanders are better than? Even with the Rangers, it is a stretch because they still have Henrik Lundqvist, who could single-handedly make them competitivemost nights.So if you are an Islanders fan, what is the most reasonable and optimistic long-term outlook here?For one, you still have a potential cornerstone player in Barzal. And while it is not quite as encouraging as having both him and Tavares for the next eight years, you Roy Lopez Jersey still have what could be one of the hardest pieces in the NHL to acquire and a player whocould be truly worthy of building your team around. That is a good start.NHL DRAFT 2019: The 2018 draft also produced some promising results, as they were able to land Oliver Walhstrom and Noah Dobson with the No. 11 and No. 12 overall picks, both coming off the board later than expected.The other thing that might be a cause for optimism: This team might be bad enough to totally bottom out.Yes, this is one of those cases where being awful might be for the best.That isnt to say that the Islanders are actively tanking, but given the roster and the potential for even more players to get dealt this season, there is a very strong po sibility that this Islanders team could find itself near the bottom of the league. Since the NHL changed the draft lottery format, there isnt as much benefit to pulling a Buffalo or Edmonton and stripping your team down to a skeleton roster in an effort to secure a top-two pick, but finishing with one of the best chances at a top pick has its benefits .So that is what the Islanders are left with at this point.They lost a superstar and have not really addre sed their biggest weakne ses in a meaningful way. But they still have a player to build around and could put themselves in a position where they could end up with another one in 2019 with a little bit of luck.The additions of established and respected hockey people like Barry Trotz and Lamoriello are not going to be enough to help the Islanders overcome the lo s of Tavares in the short term. But they still have pieces to potentially build around long term. The real challenge for Trotz and Zach Cunningham Jersey Lamoriello is going to be to make sure the MathewBarzal (and potentially Jack Hughes!) chapter has a better ending than the John Tavares chapter and that it doesnt all turn out to be a ma sive wasted opportunity. Related Articles NHL Draft grades 2018: Islanders, Red Wings earn full marks; Rangers tank