DENVER — Just under 12 hours before the NHL’s roster freeze went into effect, Lou Lamoriello smiled at a question about the chatter around the league.
“The reason I’ve got a little smile, are you talking the chatter of you people?” Lamoriello asked a reporter. “No negativity, but I don’t read your chatter. But I hear it’s humorous.”
As for the chatter he hears from fellow general managers?
“It’s all facts,” he said. “I think that, when you get close to deadlines, you get a hype that’s different, and all the conversations come to a conclusion because you have to make a decision at that time. Those conversations and interactions are ongoing constantly.”
Lamoriello, who spoke ahead of the Islanders’ match on Monday night against the Avalanche, delivered a measured yet positive review of his team, which came into the day at 18-13-1 after a much-needed win over the Golden Knights. Before Monday night’s slate of games, the Islanders held the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by one point over the Capitals, having recently fallen behind the Rangers and Penguins in the standings.
“You’re certainly as good as your last performance, and I certainly like the way our team played in Las Vegas,” Lamoriello said. “I thought we handled each and every situation the way you had to handle it. That’s an excellent hockey team. We played well.”
As for coach Lane Lambert, Lamoriello kept his review positive as well.
“All the questions about offense, I think have been answered,” he said. “Whenever you do that, there is a little sacrifice on defense and I think that what we’re acquiring right now is a combination of both. Very pleased with the status of where we’re at right now.”
Despite Saturday’s win over Vegas, the Islanders have seen their results dip recently. That victory halted a four-game losing streak — their longest of the season — and a combination of injuries and inconsistent play has seen them drop onto the playoff bubble.
With a little under three months until the March 3 deadline, it’s clear the Islanders need some help, particularly on the wing, where they’ve gotten mostly inconsistent performances. Lamoriello, asked about his comfort with the roster, kept his opinion vague.
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” he said. “You always want to get better and certainly you have to feel good about the team that you have and believe in it. If not, it wouldn’t be where it’s at. But certainly getting better is something you strive to do. It takes two [teams] to do that and whenever you add, you have to subtract and you have to make sure that you’re extremely comfortable with the end result.”
The injury issues the Islanders have suffered of late are hurting their projections for cap space available at the trade deadline. After bringing up Cory Schneider on emergency recall, that number had dropped to $8.8 million, per CapFriendly, though it is subject to change once the injuries sort themselves out.
Prior to that happening, the Islanders carried only 22 players on their roster for much of the season. It’s possible they’ll go back to that once they get the chance to do so.
“Idealistically, 22 would be fine,” Lamoriello said. “That way you could bring a player up or down if you wanted to, but 23 is fine. It depends on the situation.”
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