The trade deadline has come and gone and wouldn't you know it, folks in Islanders Country are still scratching their heads. Much beloved Brock Nelson was traded for a haul after failing to come to terms on an extension in what turned out to be a seller's market. But outside of shipping Dennis Cholowski out in a minor league deal, no other moves of consequence were made.
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
When the Isles play, I normallly start the newsletter with something thoughtful, amusing or even sometimes eloquent about the game. Not today. The Islanders looked like a bad hockey team last night in Anaheim and missed out on a chance to jump three teams and pull within two points of a playoff spot. If you take a peak at the upcoming schedule, they may be on the road to irrelevance quick.
This morning, I try to capture some of my thoughts - and if you followed me on X this weekend, you know I have a lot of them, on what transpired at the deadline and the message we’ve heard from their GM.
Lou Lamoriello wants to have it both ways. He wants change while intending to stay the course in a mindset that seems more focused on preventing the Islanders from bottoming out than becoming a Stanley Cup contender.
During Saturday night’s media scrum, he said the team needs to get younger. Ironically, this came 48 hours after he unsuccessfully tried to sign 33-year-old Brock Nelson and 34-year-old Kyle Palmieri to multi-year extensions.
After months of speculation, the thing Islander fans are most pleased and excited about is the thing the GM didn't want to have happen. The additing of 20-year-old Cal Ritchie and the possibility of having multiple first round draft picks in 2026 or 2027 is a welcome change for an organization that has made one first round pick since 2019 and hasn’t had multiple since Lamoriello’s first draft for the team in 2018 when he selected Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson.
“There will be change this summer. Until there’s change, you can’t say how much. But I can assure you there will be change.” - Lou Lamoriello
Lamoriello confirmed that Plan A was to retain and extend Nelson and Palmieri, meaning the front office's assessment was to run it back for the remainder of the season in hopes of claiming a playoff spot in the final weeks as they have each of the last two seasons before being unceremoniously eliminated by Carolina.
As for Plan B moving forward? It’s less clear. He assured everyone that there would be change, but couldn’t say how much, only that change was more likely to come during the summer, as there weren’t deals that made them “better and younger” available at the deadline. That’s fine, but it’s hard to find players on the roster that will bring back similar returns to Nelson's, and “hockey trades” have become hard to come by. How is the team getting better and younger during the summer? I’m finding that path forward hard to see right now.
I’ve defended Lou through his tenure and more than most. There have been arguments to start the retool for three years, and he’s chosen to double down and add to the current core each time. When he did so, there was conviction and belief behind it. You could find reasons for optimism, but less so now.
Listening to him on Saturday night, I felt this team's vision and new path felt as cloudy and uncertain as ever since he arrived, and there are no signs indicating he’s going anywhere.
