Should Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello have made a deal at the NHL trade deadline?
Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello speaks with the media before a game against the Flyers at UBS Arena on Nov. 25, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ANAHEIM, Calif.
Lou Lamoriello didn’t make a trade for just for a trade’s sake.
But should the Islanders' president/general manager have made a deal before Friday’s NHL trade deadline for depth’s sake?
That will be answered during the season’s final five-plus weeks as the Islanders continue their playoff push.
The Islanders went into the trade deadline having won a season-high five in a row, turning what, two weeks earlier, had seemed like long-shot playoff chances into perhaps a 50-50 proposition.
Coach Patrick Roy liked the group as it is. So did Lamoriello, who vowed not to subtract but to add if he felt it would make the team better.
Of course, it’s impossible to know exactly what trade possibilities presented themselves to the uber-secretive Lamoriello. There obviously were trades to be made as 33 players were involved in 23 deals on Friday.
“We weren’t interested in making a lateral move with the players that we have,” Lamoriello said.
Lamoriello also would not speculate as to whether he would have thought differently if the team had not won five straight before Friday.
“That’s a hypothetical question,” Lamoriello said. “You make every decision on all the information you have at that given time when the decision has to be made. And you never look back on if, if not. That’s very destructive.”
OK, fair enough.
And let the record show there is some agreement here that this group, playing much better under Roy, earned the right to be kept together. And that harmonious dressing-room chemistry does play a large part in how the Islanders play.
But going back to hypotheticals, what happens if injuries occur?
Do the Islanders have enough forward depth to withstand losing one of their better scorers? Remember how they ended last season with Mathew Barzal sidelined? Or Anders Lee in 2020?
Hudson Fasching is back off long-term injured reserve and Oliver Wahlstrom, likely playing out the string on his Islanders career as a pending restricted free agent, is on the roster, too.
But Lamoriello couldn’t have spared a sixth-round pick for Jason Zucker, as Predators GM Barry Trotz did? Or a conditional fourth-round pick for Jack Roslovic, which is what the Rangers sent to the Blue Jackets?
The Islanders soon will have defenseman Robert Bortuzzo back from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out since Jan. 4. But Scott Mayfield quite possibly is done for the regular season with a lower-body injury. Should Lamoriello have sent a fourth-round pick to the Sabres for defenseman Erik Johnson, as the Flyers did?
Again, it’s impossible to know what conversations Lamoriello had.
But depth is never a bad thing.
Business opportunity
Anders Lee isn’t expecting to own a sports franchise after his playing days are done.
“But you never know,” Lee said.
That’s because he sort of does now.
Lee was announced as a strategic investor this past week in Dublin-based St. Patrick’s Athletic, which plays in Ireland’s top soccer division, along with NFL quarterback Joe Flacco and former NFL players Matt Birk and Chad Greenway.
“My financial adviser in Minneapolis, his brother, Matt Birk, was a former teammate of Joe Flacco out in Baltimore,” Lee said. “Matt won a Super Bowl in Baltimore and played for the Minnesota Vikings for a really long time. He has moved into a lot of investments and private equity stuff in Minneapolis and I’ve been in touch with him for some time.
“This was an opportunity brought to me, Matt did, that was exciting on my end.”
Make no mistake, Lee does have a keen interest in business.
“I’m always interested in companies, how they work, the business side of things,” he said. “It’s completely an offseason type of thing. I like to learn about these type of things.”
First time?
Through Thursday’s play, Cal Clutterbuck was one of four Islanders to have played in all 62 games, joining Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and defenseman Noah Dobson. Clutterbuck, 36 and a pending unrestricted free agent in his 16th NHL season as he completes a two-year, $3.5 million deal, has never played all 82 games (2012-13 was shortened by an owner’s lockout and the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were shortened by the COVID pandemic).
That’s not a surprise, given Clutterbuck’s physically agitating style. He is the NHL’s all-time hits leader, after all.
But Clutterbuck, whose Islanders and NHL future could be uncertain after this season, has not taken the time to dwell on his consistency this season.
“I haven’t given it any thought,” he said. “I just try and show up and do my job. I feel like I’ve been pretty much the same guy for a long time. I’ve had some injury troubles. I’ve had shorter seasons that have gotten in the way of maybe putting a full season together. I know my game. I show up to do my job every day until somebody tells me I’m not good enough to do it anymore.”
Closing the gap
The Islanders are one of the few playoff contenders with a negative goal differential. For comparison’s sake, the Eastern Conference-leading Panthers were plus-60 entering Saturday’s play and the Western Conference-leading Canucks were plus-51. But the Islanders had improved in that category of late. Here’s where they’ve been this season:
Nov. 3 — Plus-1 (after nine games; last time they’ve been a plus)
Nov. 17 — Minus-13 (after 16 games)
Dec. 28 — Minus-11 (after 34 games)
Jan. 20 — Minus-21 (after 45 games; coach Patrick Roy hired to replace Lane Lambert)
Feb. 25 — Minus-28 (after 57 games)
Saturday — Minus-14
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.