FOR ISLANDERS GM, LIFE DOES GO ON AFTER TAVARES
Lamoriello sees bright days ahead for his new club, despite losing franchise player
I think where the Islanders are today are more progressed than where Toronto was at the given time
It’s been almost a week since the breakup.
One week since John Tavares ditched the team he had been with for nine long years and hooked up with the one he had been crushing on all his life.
For fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who landed the biggest free agent in the NHL, it was a day unlike no other. For New York Islanders fans, who lost their captain and franchise player, it was a level of betrayal that caused some to burn their old No. 91 jerseys.
But for GM Lou Lamoriello, who went from Toronto to New York ostensibly to try to convince Tavares to stay, losing his star centre isn’t emotional — it’s just a part of the business.
“John is with another team right now and this is no different than when a trade transpires,” Lamoriello said Friday. “The only difference here is we certainly wanted John to stay. It’s obvious we did everything we could to convince him of that. It was his right to make any decision he wanted and we respect that. He was honest and upfront in that process.
“You don’t look back. You don’t complain. You just go forward.”
And so, it’s on to Plan B. And no, the “B” does not stand for “bottoming out.”
While Lamoriello’s first year in Toronto was about “pain” and sacrificing wins for a chance at landing the No. 1 overall pick, Lamoriello said he is not following a similar blueprint with New York. The team is not tanking. The goal is to make the playoffs — not increase the odds of selecting top 2019 draft prospect Jack Hughes.
In other words, you can save that #Lose4Hughes hashtag for the Vancouver Canucks or Montreal Canadiens.
“There’s always pain when you miss the playoffs so many years in a row. But I think where the Islanders are today are more progressed than where Toronto was at the given time,” Lamoriello said. “It’s different. In saying that, we have to see. But no, I do not think it will end up the way the first year it ended up in Toronto.
“Mike (Babcock) and I went through (pain) for one full year in Toronto. I want to jump-start that (in New York).”
Part of this is perhaps the competitor in Lamoriello coming out. Losing Tavares to free agency was one thing. Losing him to his protégé in Kyle Dubas was probably worse. So, like a jilted lover, it would be natural for him to want to show the Leafs — and the rest of the hockey world — that he can rebound from this.
After all, Lamoriello’s a big believer that no player is bigger than the team. Now we get to see if that’s true.
Without Tavares as the No. 1 centre, the offence will run through Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal, who led the Islanders in scoring with 85 points (one more than Tavares) last season. He’s far from the only offensive threat. Anders Lee is coming off a 40-goal season, while Josh Bailey had 71 points and Jordan Eberle had 25 goals and 59 points.
That being said, Eberle, Lee and newly signed forward Valtteri Filppula are all on expiring contracts, so the team will have leverage at the trade deadline.
“We went through some 50 players in Toronto during the first year, but I can’t see that happening on the Island,” said Lamoriello.
“There are too many core individuals who have the ability to play. The offence here was pretty good. Despite losing the star player, there’s some pretty talented players. We just have to see how they will come together and what the improvement will be of these young players.
“I’m excited because of the young players we have. They’re young, they have outstanding potential — and I hate to use that word — but they’ve got God-given talents that you can’t teach.”
To help the kids out, Lamoriello turned to a couple of former Leafs, signing free agent Leo Komarov and trading for Matt Martin — so much for Lamoriello and Dubas being sworn enemies — to implement “the intangibles that you can’t teach.”
Still, this is an Islanders team that finished 11th in the Eastern Conference, 17 points back of a playoff spot. Even with a new coach in Barry Trotz, who is fresh off winning a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, and a slight improvement in net with Robin Lehner taking over for Jaroslav Halak, the team has a difficult road ahead.
But it’s a challenge Lamoriello welcomes.
“I think the similarities are no different than when Mike (Babcock) and I came in (with Toronto),” he said.
“You don’t know who the players are, you don’t know how they will contribute and (how they) will do under a new coaching staff. So there are a lot of unknowns like there were in Toronto.
“But I wouldn’t look at it as bleak by any means.”