EDMONTON, Alberta – The start of the season in which Anders Lee, at the age of 34, answered questions about the failure of his game, crumpled them into a ball and threw them in the trash, did not happen by chance.

Rather, after a 2023-2024 season in which Lee suffered some decline in his play and had his worst non-pandemic-affected scoring season since 2015-2016, the Islanders captain made a major change to his offseason training, used the services of renowned players. skills coach and NHL Hall of Famer Adam Oates.

“I’ve been working on a lot of little things that I think have paid off big time,” Lee told The Post after the Islanders wrapped up Monday’s practice on the first of a 12-day road trip. “I just came in with a very good feeling. The body is in a great place. I felt really good on the ice and just tried to keep that going. Like everyone else, try to go into each summer with the belief that you can come out of it a better hockey player. I went in with a great attitude and did a lot of great things.”

Based in Toronto, Oates has worked with a number of players in the Islanders organization, including Bo Horvat, Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Maggio.

He took two-week trips last summer to Minnesota, where Lee is based, to work with clients and entrusted area business to Taylor Williamson, a former national champion women’s hockey player at the University of Minnesota who, after graduating, worked in the coaching went. 2019.

Lee found the program a tremendous help, much of which focused on subtle nuances in the game.

“Little moments in our game: how you pick up the puck, how you handle it, you control your body,” Lee said. “And as soon as I stepped back on the ice with him, I just felt like this was something that I really enjoyed and really needed. I have a very good feeling about it.”

Lee, whose four-game assist streak ended in Saturday’s loss to the Devils, has nine points through the first 15 games this season and has had a noticeably bigger presence in front of the net, where the 6-foot-1 winger has always played. earned his living.

It’s no surprise that all four of Lee’s goals came straight from in front of the crease, and according to NHL Edge data, he ranks in the 99th percentile league-wide for shots on goal in such areas, with 29.

Those numbers have always been good, and one reason why Lee’s advanced stats show him among the Islanders’ best players in terms of individual expected goals, but the finishing touches were missing for most of last year.

By comparison, Lee shot 13 percent on dangerous looks a year ago. In 2021-2022, the first year such data was kept, he shot 23.7 percent.

Some of that is a matter of scoring goals or luck. But the difference is so great that Lee cannot simply dismiss it.

“As far as the touches around the net go, I think it’s a combination of both (bad luck and something that needs to be fixed),” Lee said. “You often like what you did with it, the goalkeeper makes good saves. You have to understand whether you like your thought process or your touch, and also (there are) times where, okay, maybe I don’t like how I did that. And how can I find a way for the next one in that spot or the next one around there to put it in?

So far this season, Lee’s shooting percentage – and yes, it’s a small sample – is only up 0.8 percent in high-risk areas, but he’s been given so many chances that it hasn’t mattered all that much.

His advanced stats were also excellent, as the Islanders controlled 57.99 percent of five-on-five scoring opportunities with the captain on the ice.

Little things that make a big difference.