Islanders, John Tavares ready for Saturday's reunion in Toronto

John Tavares doesn’t get to watch his former teammates much, given the grind of his schedule with the Maple Leafs. But the Islanders’ promising play under new president/general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz has not surprised their former captain.

The Islanders will come out of their Christmas break to play the Ottawa Senators on Friday night at Barclays Center. Then they’ll face Tavares and the Maple Leafs on Saturday night in Toronto.

“I’ve seen a lot of the boxscores but I haven’t really watched a lot of the games,” Tavares said in a recent telephone conversation with Newsday. “I felt there was really good potential in New York, having Lou come in and bringing in Barry Trotz and some of the consistency there. They’ve always been known for having really good defensive teams and they provide that stability. They’re doing well. Teams are more than one player, maybe more than any [other] professional sport.”

The Islanders (18-13-4) completed a 3-1-0 road trip with a 3-1 win in Dallas on Sunday night before getting three days off.

“It just resets your mind, resets the body a little bit,” current Islanders captain Anders Lee said after Thursday’s practice in East Meadow. “We had a hard practice today, get the legs going again and kind of work out all those cookies.”

“You just look at the schedule coming up, we’ve got a big one against Ottawa,” center Mathew Barzal added. “We need that one because we come out of the gates pretty hot with Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo. Toronto is going to be a fun game. I think it’ll be fun for JT and fun for us as well.”

While Tavares is facing the Islanders for the first time — the Maple Leafs will visit NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on Feb. 28 and April 1 — Saturday also will mark Lamoriello’s return to Toronto after he spent the previous three seasons as the Maple Leafs’ GM.

Forwards Leo Komarov, signed to a four-year, $12-million deal, and Matt Martin, reacquired after two seasons with the Maple Leafs, also will be returning to Toronto.

But there’s no doubt that much of the attention will be on Tavares, who signed a seven-year, $77-million deal with his hometown Maple Leafs shortly after the free- agent market opened on July 1.

“Johnny meant so much to this organization and to us in the room, his friends and teammates,” Lee said. “I think we’re all looking forward to playing the game and seeing him. It’s obviously turned into a little more than just a game against the Leafs. It’ll be better if we take care of business on Friday.”

Tavares said his whole first season in Toronto “is going to be a transition, feeling my way out.” He added that

he has no idea what Saturday will be like for him.

“It’s hard to really say,” he said. “I’ve never been through anything like this. I’m not sure how it will be, but I’ll try to approach it like any other game and help the Leafs get two points. I’m sure there will be a lot of emotions and a lot of feelings toward it because that place made a huge impact on my life and my career.”

Notes & quotes: Robin Lehner is expected to start in goal against the Senators, with Thomas Greiss starting in Toronto . . . Right wing Cal Clutterbuck (lower body), who exited Sunday’s win, and defenseman Thomas Hickey (injured reserve/upper body) skated on their own on Thursday. Trotz said Clutterbuck might participate in Friday’s morning skate . . . Trotz said left wing Andrew Ladd (injured reserve/lower body), who has not played since Nov. 13, continues his off-ice rehab but has not resumed skating. “He’ll be a while,” Trotz said.

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.