Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello finds his team, and himself, in a sour situation

The proverbial pickle.

Islanders president/general manager Lou Lamoriello finds himself — figuratively — in a vat of  brine  as his team struggles to find consistency (i.e. blowing third-period leads and not winning games in regulation).

The Islanders (8-9-5) conclude a three-game homestand against the Bruins on Wednesday night at UBS Arena after allowing three third-period goals in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Red Wings, the fourth time in five games they’ve been unable to hold a lead over the final 20 minutes and, already, the eighth time this season.

Here are some of the intertwined issues Lamoriello, a Hall of Fame executive who has been calling shots in the NHL since 1987, is facing:

 Loyalty has always been one of Lamoriello’s hallmarks — 100% meant as a compliment — and he has shown unwavering support for the Islanders’ core players, which has, for the most part, remained intact since Lamoriello took over in 2018. But now, there is growing evidence that this group — with just five wins in regulation this season — went as far as it was going to go back in 2020 and 2021, when it lost to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Lightning in the NHL semifinals.

Yes, the Islanders are injury depleted, with top-liners Anthony Duclair and Mathew Barzal and defensemen Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly all sidelined. But even when they were in the lineup, the Islanders did not play like one of the top teams in the league.

And two of the Islanders’ top forwards — perhaps their best two this season — Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, both 33, are pending unrestricted free agents and would be among the most attractive rental targets approaching the March 7 trade deadline.

A strong return for both would theoretically bolster the organization for future seasons.

 But Lamoriello is not a believer in the rebuild. Never has been. Seasons are too precious to waste, in his view. Trading either Nelson or Palmieri, or both, would significantly decrease the Islanders’ chances of making the playoffs.

 But, and this is speculation, Lamoriello’s job may hinge on the Islanders making the playoffs. Islanders’ principal owner Scott Malkin is one of the quietest owners in all of professional sports so it’s impossible to gauge what he might do. His past, unspoken, track record is that he trusts Lamoriello implicitly.

But there has been some internal rumbling that the Islanders, who have not won a playoff round since 2021, need to qualify for Lamoriello to be retained. To be fair, one of Lamoriello’s greatest strengths is he plugs all leaks so that internal rumbling may be off base.

But what if it’s not? If Lamoriello is “playing for his job,” how does that affect his upcoming decision on Nelson and Palmieri?

 What owners do notice is attendance. After all, most are business people first. If attendance dips at UBS Arena, that will reflect poorly on Lamoriello. And that ties in, too, to any decision on Nelson and Palmieri.

 Lamoriello may not have until March 7 to decide what’s best for the organization. The Rangers’ e-mail blast over the weekend that they are willing to listen to deals to shake up their roster — captain Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider’s names being prominent — may hasten the trade market, forcing Lamoriello to act sooner rather than later if he wants greatest value.

As mentioned, the proverbial pickle.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.