Adam Barcia’s Orange NY Islanders’ Third Jersey Design Sees Heartwarming Inspiration

The New York Islanders have begun voting for their 2027-28 third jersey, with finalist Adam Garcia getting some hope for a heartwarming dream with his favorite team.

Apr 12, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders center Casey Cizikas (53) celebrates a goal with defenseman Ryan Pulock (6), defenseman Scott Mayfield (24), center Marc Gatcomb (16) and center Kyle MacLean (32) against the Montreal Canadiens in the third period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For New York Islanders fan Adam Barcia, his dream of getting to see his favorite team wearing a jersey he designed is within reach.

On Aug. 11, the Islanders unveiled the eight final concepts for their next third jersey in the first fan-driven design contest in NHL history; Barcia's "Orange NY" jersey was among them.

Per Barcia's own words to New York Islanders On SI, in addition to reporting from Isles beat reporter Stefen Rosner, Barcia saw a lot of inspiration in his design and love for the Isles from his fifth-grade teacher — Mr. Eric Burchard. Burchard was always wearing an orange Islanders jersey, and the two have recently spoken due to Barcia's own orange final design, inspired by his former teacher.

Here is my design that made it to the final 8. It seems like there’s a lot of mixed emotions and opinions on the finalists but I’m looking forward to seeing the winning design on the ice no matter the outcome. Go Islanders! @NYIslanders pic.twitter.com/wnyUgcjTDL

— Adam Barcia (@AdamBarcia) August 11, 2026

Burchard would also inspire Barcia to become a teacher of his own. Given his big love for the Isles, one can only expect the seventh- and eighth-grade teacher to regularly tell his students about his all-time favorite Islander, Matt Martin, followed by his current favorite Islander, Matthew Schaefer.

Back to the contest — Barcia said in an exclusive that he's been having a fun time going through all the reactions across social media on the final eight designs.

"It's been fun too, getting to go through Islanders' Twitter, Islanders' Facebook, and all that, and seeing all the different reactions to not only my jersey but to all the other designs — which all of them I think are great," said Barcia. "It's been kind of cool to see the mixed reactions, see which ones people like and don't like, and things like that. So it's been pretty exciting."

Islanders Making NHL History With Ongoing Fan Jersey Vote

Barcia's design was one of over 80,490 submissions that the Isles had to narrow down to a coveted eight. These remaining jerseys are now in an ongoing bracket-style fan vote. The winner will determine the Islanders' third jersey, which will see its debut in the 2027-28 League season.

"It would be really awesome if I was fortunate enough to win this thing. I think it would be really cool to see an orange jersey back on the ice with the team," Barcia also said. "It's been a while since they've had an orange alternate jersey, so I think it would look cool."

The first round of voting has already opened, with Barcia's design going against "Navy NY." The final round of voting will run from Aug. 18 until Aug. 20. The winner will be unveiled in the days that follow and will go through an extensive design process.

Let’s check in on the 27-28 Third Jersey Fan Vote!

Keep the votes coming, #IslesNation.

Vote now: https://t.co/I9VoLAjC6w pic.twitter.com/FTpzCnVvZs

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 13, 2026

An early voting percentage the Islanders released shows that the navy designs are currently being favorited over orange ones — however, Barcia still has high hopes for winning it all.

"All of them are going to look great, I think that's the biggest thing the fans want to see," Barcia said. "But, it would be so cool to be there for an Islanders game, and to get to watch the team on the ice wearing something I designed — it would just be totally awesome. It would be an out of world experience."