The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They currently play in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Islanders are one of three NHL franchises in the New York City metropolitan area along with the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. The Islanders have a rivalry with the Rangers referred to as the Battle of New York.

The team was founded in 1972 as part of the NHL's maneuvers to keep a team from the rival World Hockey Association (WHA) out of Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983, the eighth of the nine dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history. Also between 1980 and 1984 they won 19 consecutive playoff series, a feat still unparalleled in the history of professional sports.

Since the end of the dynasty the franchise has been plagued by money troubles, poor ownership and management, an aging arena, and low attendance. The woes have been reflected on the ice. Since 1987–88, the team has not won a division title, and their last playoff series win was during the 1992–93 NHL season. After 10 years of various failed attempts to rebuild or replace the Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders announced on October 24, 2012 that the franchise will be moving to the Barclays Center in the New York City borough of Brooklyn for the 2015–16 NHL season once their lease at the Coliseum expires.

Eight former members of the Islanders have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, seven of whom—Al Arbour, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bill Torrey and Bryan Trottier—were members of all four Cup winning teams. Pat LaFontaine was the most recent inductee, having been honored in 2003.