Disaster abounds as the franchise’s brightest prospect ever arrives. The Lighthouse project sputters, owner Charles Wang blurts to the media that he wouldn’t get into hockey if he had the opportunity again. Ah, the stink in the air never dissipates on Long Island. During the preseason, they played a preseason tilt in Kansas City, leaving fans wondering whether it’ll be their future home.

John Tavares arrives and will start the season with the big club after being drafted first overall last June. Like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and Sidney Crosby before him (just to name a few), Tavares, 19, was a player of destiny from a very early age. Tavares was named Canadian junior (CHL) Rookie of the Year at age of 15, broke Wayne Gretzky's record for goals by a 16-year-old with 72, won two gold medals at the World Juniors and scored a record 215 goals in junior.

Last season, the Isles lost 582 man-games to injury in 2008-09, making a bad situation worse for a club that’s light in the development department. No one on the club played in more than 74 games (Mark Streit), and the team dressed 14 rookies at various points.

Kyle Okposo led the way for the Isles with 18 goals last season, proving the dearth of talent available. Earlier in his career, Trent Hunter cracked the twenty-goal mark twice. Last season, he was limited to 55 games due to a broken ankle. He recorded 14 goals, and will be looked toward for 20+ again. The club is woefully short on depth.

Including this season, there are “only” six more years left on Alexei Yashin’s buyout. This year, he’ll earn $3.24M, as the third highest-paid “player” behind Streit and Rick DiPietro.

Most importantly, the team must get a full season’s work out of goaltender DiPietro, limited to just five games last season. Enter Martin Biron and Dwayne Roloson as backups in GM Garth Snow’s goaltending troika. Should be dramatic, to say the least. Who goes to the AHL first?

Defensively, things aren’t too great, although Brendan Witt still brings the snarl. Former Canadien Streit silenced his critics in a big way after signing for five years, $20.5M. He enters the second year of his deal.

Coach Scott Gordon wants a hard-forechecking style. He’s rubbed some vets the wrong way. We’ll see who’s on this team as the season unfolds. The team is at the very bottom of the salary structure.