Islanders stand pat in free agency
Well, that was anticlimactic. Free agency began at noon on Wednesday and the Islanders waited. And then they waited some more. Seven hours into the whole affair, their waiting turned into disappointment as Johnny Gaudreau chose the Blue Jackets, and from there, it turned into a continuous state of dullness. The Islanders finished Thursday as the only NHL team not to have signed a free agent, four months after they reached the trade deadline as the only team not to have made a deal.
That is, if nothing else, one strong commitment to the Islanders’ current core.
Islanders president Lou Lamoriello did add defenseman Alexander Romanov at the draft to shore up the left side of the blue line, but it is looking more and more as if that could be the only major addition to the roster between now and the opening of training camp in September.
If, as suggested by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Islanders couldn’t clear enough cap space to make a serious offer to Gaudreau, it’s hard to see exactly how or why Lamoriello would do so for any remaining free agents. Ondrej Palat signed with the Devils late Wednesday night, taking another option off the board at wing. Center Nazem Kadri is still available, but he would be well out of the Islanders’ price range without corresponding moves and he plays a position at which they are relatively set.
Lamoriello could make a hockey deal to add a scorer, should a suitable offer present itself. Vladimir Tarasenko might be available from the Blues, though he holds a no-trade clause and his contract expires in 2023. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen has said he wants to keep Patrik Laine in restricted free agency, but that may prove tough with Gaudreau now on the Blue Jackets’ books. Lamoriello could call up Canucks exec Jim Rutherford and reopen the talks for J.T. Miller that reportedly came apart on the draft floor last week.
Locking up the Islanders’ group of restricted free agents, including Romanov, Noah Dobson and Kieffer Bellows, figures to be a priority now, and will take up most of the cap space the Islanders currently have. Without moving money off their books, that would limit them to signing only a lower-end name out of the players currently remaining.
If the Islanders indeed go into training camp with little to no changes, besides Romanov on the blue line and Lane Lambert behind the bench, it will be a ringing endorsement of a group that missed the playoffs by 16 points last season.
It doesn’t help matters that the competition in the Eastern Conference has gotten tougher as Ottawa, Detroit, Columbus and New Jersey — four teams the Islanders finished ahead of in the standings last season — made the kinds of major additions that they could not.
As of right now, at least, 20 players projected to be on the opening-night roster were a part of the group that played in the 2021 NHL semifinal (the exceptions are Zach Parise, Robin Salo and Romanov). Success in 2021, though, begets zero promises for 2023.