Scouting Report: The Blue Jackets Open the 2017-18 Season Against a Pesky Divisional Foe, the New York Islanders

Columbus Blue Jackets (0–0–0) vs. New York Islanders (0–0–0)

FRIDAY, OCT. 6, 2017, 7 p.m. (NATIONWIDE ARENA)

The New York Islanders did not have a good season in 2016-17 and, midway through, decided to fire head coach Jack Capuano. A team with high expectations and a superstar captain to appease as he enters the contract extension red zone, the Islanders were stuck in last place in the Eastern Conference and promoted Doug Weight to interim head coach.

Weight was promoted to full-time head coach shortly after the season ended and begins his first season as an NHL bench boss. This is an important season for the Islanders, who have endured off-ice turmoil with an untenable arena situation (have you been to Barclays Center?) and a proposal in Belmont Park that looks like it's headed in the right direction.

They have the talent to get back in the playoffs but, of course, they're stuck in the madhouse Metropolitan Division.

GM Garth Snow is still hanging around and made some offseason changes to bolster his group. Ryan Strome was traded to the Edmonton Oilers and Jordan Eberle joins the Islanders to play alongside John Tavares and add offensive punch to their No. 1 line.

Weight has a serviceable defense, led by Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy on the top pairing. Dennis Seidenberg returns and is likely to pair with Calvin de Haan. Between the pipes, it's a tandem of veteran goaltenders in Thomas Greiss (armed with a new three-year, $10 million contract signed in January) and Jaroslav Halak.

You Oughta Know: Jordan Eberle

Something eventually had to give in Edmonton with all of those high-end forwards (and Eberle's $6 million price tag may have had something to do with it), so the Islanders benefit from it. Eberle is a shifty, skilled player who has a terrific set of hands. After a career-high of 76 points in 2011-12, Eberle's most productive season since was 65 points in 2013-14. The Islanders are hoping Eberle can raise Tavares' game even further and also get back to the level he's previously played at.

Five Fast Facts

• It was actually winger Anders Lee – not Tavares – who led the Islanders in goals last season, potting 34 to go along with 18 assists. He's got the size (6-foot-3, 231 pounds) to match up with the most physical rearguards in the league – and a quality set of hands, too – so he's certainly worth watching. 
• The Isles floundered last year under Jack Capuano – who's now in Florida as an assistant coach – but their record was really impressive under then-interim coach Doug Weight. In 50 games, the Islanders went 24-12-4 with Weight at the helm.
• Weight's record last year as interim coach, extrapolated to a full season, puts the Isles as a 110 point team. Sure, nobody's expecting that elite performance out of them this season, but it'd be unwise to take them lightly, despite less-than-stellar goaltending.
• Speaking of that goaltending, neither Greiss nor Halak performed particularly well last season. Greiss was the go-to guy in net, but only put up a 2.69 goals against average (and a .913 save percentage), not much better than Halak's numbers (2.80 GAA, .915 save percentage).
• These Isles have two rookies in their forward corps who are recent first-round picks. Matthew Barzal (2015) and Josh Ho Sang (2014) (plus second-year winger Anthony Beauvillier - 2015) are all somewhat undersized, skilled forwards who are looking to add speed and skill to this Isles forward group. 

Previous Matchups

THIS YEAR: First meeting
ALL TIME SERIES: 17-8-1, with five ties, in favor of the Blue Jackets.

Keys to the Game

ONE: This is a huge test for the Blue Jackets defensive corps. Tavares, Lee, Brock Nelson and the trio of rookies will present a formidable test for Zach Werenski, Seth Jones and co. right off the bat. The Blue Jackets will have to pick their spots, and aggressively get the puck up the ice to their playmakers.

TWO: The Islanders' identity has been that of a very physical team for the past couple of years – and they should still be that, despite the arrivals of Barzal and Ho Sang. Will the Blue Jackets be able to match that physicality – or counter with speed – against a battle-tested Islanders d-corps?  

THREE: Can the CBJ shut down the stars? That first line for the Isles is loaded – adding Jordan Eberle's impressive skill to one of the league's brightest stars (Taveres) and an extremely talented power forward (Lee) could take make this line one of the best in the league. Alternatively, they could struggle to find chemistry. It's up to the Blue Jackets to make it rough on them. Are they up to the task? 

Islanders Projected Lineup

10 Stats to Know

There aren't any "stats to know" yet because it's opening night, but if you've got the above information down, your friends will be impressed. Trust us.