Lamoriello Likes Isles Direction Ahead of Trade Deadline

With the NHL trade deadline set for Friday at 3 p.m. eastern, Islanders President of Hockey Ops and General Manager Lou Lamoriello likes the direction his team is heading in.

The Isles have won three straight games, all against playoff teams in Dallas, Detroit and Boston with two of those wins – a 5-3 victory over Detroit and a 5-1 triumph over Boston – coming in regulation. With the Isles improving their game under Head Coach Patrick Roy, whose line shuffling was a catalyst for the three-game run, Lamoriello feels like his group deserves a chance to make a playoff push, rather than sell-off at Friday’s deadline.

“They're playing where they're capable of playing right now,” Lamoriello said. “We'll have to continue that. As far as adding, if you can, you do. Are we thinking of subtracting? Absolutely not.”

The Islanders were pleased to hear that Lamoriello isn’t planning on pawning off players, but effectively endorsed the current group.

“The last three games especially have shown [Lamoriello] and even proved in our locker room that we're good squad in here,” Mathew Barzal said. “It's been some ups and downs here, but it's all about finding your groove at the right time. And seems like we're playing our best hockey right now.”

The Isles (66 points) currently sit six points out of a playoff spot, chasing both the Philadelphia Flyers (72 points) for third place in the Metro Division, as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning (72 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Isles hold three games in hand on both teams and will meet both the Lightning and Flyers once more each this season.

“We've always showed a lot of confidence in this group,” JG Pageau said. “It means a lot when you're in this locker room and there's a lot of confidence from the organization… We want to keep winning hockey games and that’s our focus.”

The Islanders are 7-5-3 in 15 games under Roy and Lamoriello is pleased with the team’s improvement under the new coach. Lamoriello said he and Roy understood that the changes may not yield immediate results, but that the way the team is playing currently reinforces his approach to the deadline.

“He understands what we felt had to be done and it could take a little time and it could be a little pain before there's some gain,” Lamoriello said. “Right now certainly he's got things where he'd like to see them. The players have certainly responded to that at this point, and I can't see that not continuing. For me he's done everything that I thought he could and would do.”