Lamoriello Confident in Islanders Ahead of Season

The New York Islanders took care of some business on Monday, inking a trio of
restricted free agents to fresh contracts
.
Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov
each signed a pair of three-year deals
, while Kieffer Bellows
re-upped for one year
. It was some noise in a relatively quiet offseason for the Islanders, whose main moves were
acquiring Romanov at the NHL Draft
and promoting
Lane Lambert to Head Coach
.

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The Islanders, who went to the third round of the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, feel they are still in a good spot heading into the 2022-23 season despite not breaking the bank, or breaking up the team, to accommodate high-priced free agents.
"I'm actually really excited about team that we have right now going into the season," President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said. "I feel very good. If we could have gotten better, we would have done that. That's no different than throughout the season, but it's the price you have to pay to do something to upgrade in one position. If the pluses and minus don't work out, you're really downgrading your whole team."

While the roster remains largely intact, Lamoriello sees the coaching change as a way to get more out of his team. After a rocky start to the season - punctuated by an 0-8-3 stretch - the Islanders showed improvement in the second half. Notably the Isles offense averaged 3.19 goals per game after the all-star break, compared to 2.36 before.
"I think it will make us a better team. And I think we will be a little more offensive," Lamoriello said of Lambert taking over. "But we will not give up defense. Our team is built a certain way. I don't apologize for it. I believe in it. It starts with our goaltending goes through our defense and goes through our forwards."
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Lamoriello highlighted the tandem of Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin as one of the Islanders' main strengths, as well as the team's defensive unit. The Islanders head into the season with "five quality NHL defensemen" in Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, Dobson and Romanov. Lamoriello confirmed that Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara are not returning next season and that the team intends to fill in the sixth defenseman internally.
Lamoriello also cited the team's depth at center, with Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, JG Pageau and Casey Cizikas returning down the middle. Nelson is coming off a career-high 37 goals last season, while Barzal's 226 points (69G, 157A) in 278 games since the start of the 2018-19 season leads the Islanders. Lamoriello expanded a bit on Barzal, who will be a restricted free agent after the season and is eligible to sign an extension.
"I have tremendous confidence in Mat's development," Lamoriello said. "Each and every year he's become a better player, in my opinion, and I feel that he has the ability to lead us in different categories. And I think that he'll make that next jump this year."

The General Manager's enthusiasm extended down to the team's prospects as Lamoriello praised the World Junior efforts of William Dufour, who won gold with Canada, as well as Aatu Raty, Eetu Liukas and Matias Rajaniemi, who took home silver medals with Finland. Lamoriello said the growth and development of the Bridgeport Islanders during their playoff run last spring was another reason for optimism.
"We need our players to grow," Lamoriello said. "A couple of our younger players have to come forward with growing into the potential they have. Potential is a tough word to talk about because it means nothing unless you utilize it. That's up to us as management and coaching to get the maximum amount of our players."
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Lamoriello revealed that the team's training camp will open on Sept. 21 and that this year will see a return to normalcy after a pair of seasons impacted by COVID-19 and the opening of UBS Arena last year. Lamoriello also channeled an underdog spirit, reaffirming his belief in the team ahead of camp.
"We feel very good about who we are or we would have made drastic changes," Lamoriello said. "I say that with comfortability. I say that with confidence, and we're looking forward to getting back at it and maybe proving everybody wrong."