The 1994–95 New York Islanders season was the 23rd season in the franchise's history. The Islanders were unable to qualify for the playoffs, thus ending their two-season playoff streak.

Offseason Longtime head coach Al Arbour announced his retirement from coaching and was named the team's vice president of hockey operations on June 1. Assistant coach Lorne Henning was named his successor on June 20.

Regular season After starting the season with a 4–2–1 record, the Islanders fell into a slump from which they could not recover. They would win only 11 of their remaining 41 games, going 11–26–4. The Islanders would finish 12 points out of eighth place and miss the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Near the end of the season, General Manager Don Maloney decided that the core of players he had left alone for three seasons should be totally revamped, and he undertook a rebuilding project. He traded Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov to Montreal for Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider, and Benoit Hogue was sent to Toronto for young goaltender Eric Fichaud. Additionally, Maloney allowed the team's leading scorer, Ray Ferraro, to depart as an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. Fans' displeasure at the GM for trading the popular Turgeon was magnified when Muller balked at joining a rebuilding team. He only played 45 games for the Islanders before being sent to the Maple Leafs.

The Islanders finished the regular season having allowed the most short-handed goals in the NHL, with 11.

Season standings

Schedule and results

|1||January 21, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||1–0–0 ||

|2||January 22, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||1–0–1 ||

|3||January 24, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||2–0–1 ||

|4||January 27, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||2–1–1 ||

|5||January 28, 1995||1–4 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||2–2–1 ||

|6||January 31, 1995||5–1 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||3–2–1 ||

|7||February 2, 1995||5–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||4–2–1 ||

|8||February 4, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||4–3–1 ||

|9||February 7, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||4–4–1 ||

|10||February 9, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||4–5–1 ||

|11||February 11, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||5–5–1 ||

|12||February 14, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||5–6–1 ||

|13||February 17, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||5–6–2 ||

|14||February 18, 1995||3–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||6–6–2 ||

|15||February 20, 1995||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||6–7–2 ||

|16||February 22, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||6–7–3 ||

|17||February 23, 1995||1–4 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||6–8–3 ||

|18||February 25, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||7–8–3 ||

|19||February 28, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||8–8–3 ||

|20||March 2, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||8–9–3 ||

|21||March 5, 1995||1–3 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||8–10–3 ||

|22||March 7, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||9–10–3 ||

|23||March 9, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||9–11–3 ||

|24||March 11, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||9–12–3 ||

|25||March 14, 1995||4–6 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||9–13–3 ||

|26||March 16, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||9–14–3 ||

|27||March 18, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||9–15–3 ||

|28||March 23, 1995||1–0 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||10–15–3 ||

|29||March 25, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||10–16–3 ||

|30||March 26, 1995||5–5 OT|| align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||10–16–4 ||

|31||March 28, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||10–17–4 ||

|32||March 30, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||10–18–4 ||

|33||April 1, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||10–19–4 ||

|34||April 4, 1995||4–5 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||10–20–4 ||

|35||April 7, 1995||4–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1994–95) ||11–20–4 ||

|36||April 8, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||11–20–5 ||

|37||April 11, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||11–21–5 ||

|38||April 12, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||12–21–5 ||

|39||April 14, 1995||3–6 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||12–22–5 ||

|40||April 16, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||12–23–5 ||

|41||April 18, 1995||5–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||13–23–5 ||

|42||April 20, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||13–24–5 ||

|43||April 22, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||13–25–5 ||

|44||April 24, 1995||5–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||14–25–5 ||

|45||April 26, 1995||5–6 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||14–26–5 ||

|46||April 28, 1995||4–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1994–95) ||15–26–5 ||

|47||April 29, 1995||3–4 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||15–27–5 ||

|48||May 2, 1995||0–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||15–28–5 ||

Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only. Player Regular season 20 C 47 22 21 43 1 30 77 C 34 13 14 27 −12 10 26 RW 45 7 20 27 9 12 32 RW 47 11 15 26 −14 60 27 LW 43 10 16 26 −5 41 68 LW 33 10 7 17 3 6 18 LW 41 9 7 16 −1 8 92 D 26 3 13 16 −1 32 7 D 26 6 7 13 2 26 39 C 42 5 7 12 −10 25 37 D 41 1 11 12 3 53 33 LW 33 6 4 10 0 34 24 LW 26 5 4 9 0 23 72 D 13 3 6 9 −5 30 2 D 22 2 7 9 −8 6 9 C 12 3 5 8 3 14 15 RW 22 3 2 5 −8 14 17 C 12 1 4 5 −1 2 14 C 27 1 4 5 −8 21 75 RW 33 1 3 4 −8 100 6 D 47 1 3 4 −2 36 24 D 19 1 3 4 1 34 25 D 18 0 4 4 −6 9 28 C 10 0 3 3 1 2 34 LW 2 1 1 2 2 0 47 D 20 1 1 2 −3 40 3 D 32 0 2 2 9 77 12 RW 39 0 2 2 1 109 11 D 13 0 1 1 −11 22 10 C 8 0 1 1 1 0 35 G 6 0 1 1 0 9 LW 13 0 0 0 −2 11 10 C 3 0 0 0 −1 0 8 D 9 0 0 0 −5 2 29 G 21 0 0 0 2 30 G 26 0 0 0 2 34 D 2 0 0 0 −1 2 38 LW 2 0 0 0 0 2 36 D 1 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltending Player Regular season 30 Tommy Soderstrom 26 8 12 3 717 70 3.11 .902 1 1350 29 Jamie McLennan 21 6 11 2 539 67 3.39 .876 0 1185 35 Tommy Salo 6 1 5 0 189 18 3.02 .905 0 358

Awards and records

Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Brett Lindros January 21, 1995 Chris Taylor January 31, 1995 Chris Marinucci March 30, 1995 Tommy Salo April 11, 1995 Andrei Vasilyev April 26, 1995 Jason Widmer May 2, 1995

Draft picks New York's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft in Hartford, Connecticut.

Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team 1 9 Brett Lindros (RW) Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)2 38 Jason Holland (D) Kamloops Blazers (WHL)363Jason Strudwick (D)Kamloops Blazers (WHL)490Brad Lukowich (D)Kamloops Blazers (WHL)5112Mark McArthur (G)Guelph Storm (OHL)5116Albie O'Connell (LW)Saint Sebastian's School (USHS-MA)6142Jason Stewart (C)Simley High School (USHS-MA)8194Mike Loach (C)Windsor Spitfires (OHL)8203Peter Hogardh (C)Västra Frölunda HC (Sweden)9220Gord Walsh (LW)Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)10246Kirk DeWaele (D)Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)11272Dick Tarnstrom (D)AIK IF (Sweden)

Notes

References