Josh Bailey recently scored his first NHL goal. Bill Guerin notched his 400th just before that. Kyle Okposo has yet to play in a full NHL season. Mike Sillinger and Doug Weight have each been playing there since the early 1990s.
The experience of their veteran teammates is not lost on the younger Islanders.
“It definitely makes you appreciate everything more, having guys like that around,” 19-year-old Bailey said. “You always hope to have long careers here, but you never know what’s going to happen and how long you’re going to play.”
For guys like Guerin, Weight and Sillinger, it’s close to two decades – about as long as their rookie teammates have been alive.
“When you love to play, it doesn’t matter how old you are,” said Sillinger, 37. “But it’s definitely more work now.”
And watching the preparation and effort it takes for some of the older players, who have also been among the most productive, already has had an effect.
“You can’t help but notice what those guys go through,” Okposo said. “And you don’t want it to look like you’re doing anything less, so it definitely rubs off on the rest of us.”
So when this season is over and it ends with the Isles finishing near – or possibly at – the bottom of the standings, at least they could have something to show for the year.
“When you come into the league, obviously you have a lot of goals you want to achieve,” Bailey said. “Playing for a long time is one of them, but you don’t really think about how it’s going to get done until you see guys like that doing it.”
So perhaps one day, in a little less than two decades, Okposo and Bailey can pass down some of the lessons they’ve learned this year.
“We all remember what it’s like to be a young player, not knowing what to do,” Sillinger said. “I’m playing because that’s what I do, but I’d also like to think I’m helping guys like that out and they pick something up from me.”