The retired NHL goalie and current broadcaster for ESPN and ABC joined the "NHL @TheRink" podcast Wednesday and predicted that the Islanders will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I think the Islanders are going to make it," Boucher told co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke. "I know that they're up against it because there are other teams with games in hand, but I'm going to take the veterans in this situation to rise to the occasion and have a real strong last 28] games. I think the Islanders get in."
Boucher noted that the Islanders, with 54 games played, are in a tough spot when it comes to games in hand versus every team around them. The Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers each have one game in hand, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres have four apiece.
The Islanders have 59 points, the same as the Penguins, who hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference because of their games in hand. Washington has 60 points. Buffalo and Florida each has 56.
Boucher's belief in the Islanders is based on their experience and the addition of center Bo Horvat, who scored his first goal in his second game with his new team, a 4-0 win against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
"If you go back three or four years ago, the fan base was mad at the media because nobody gave the Islanders any credit or any respect, and then last year a lot of people picked them to go to the Stanley Cup Final when their schedule was brutal," Boucher said. "Now all of a sudden it's like they're too old and why are they getting Bo Horvat? What are we doing? It's like, hold on a second here, this is the same core group that people believed in last year, so why would you blow it up?
"Yeah, it's been a bumpy road here. They pick up Horvat. I think this team, because of their veteran presence in that locker room and what they have been through in the last couple years, I believe they can make the playoffs and I think getting a guy like Horvat when they did is the perfect spark that's needed to give a little bit of extra energy to the guys in the room."
In addition to the Islanders, the interview with Boucher included his thoughts on the New York Rangers and defenseman Jacob Trouba's physicality, the New Jersey Devils and if they're still surprising him, the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and more.
Rosen and Roarke also recapped the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, dissected the playoff races, particularly in the Pacific Division, talked about the St. Louis Blues and if they should be a seller and broke down why Wayne Gretzky's NHL scoring record will never be broken, a reaction to LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA scoring record Tuesday.
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