Lamoriello said that his players, both the ones
voluntarily skating at Northwell Health Ice Center
and working out in their respective home cities, have done their part by staying in shape during the pause. The same goes for his coaching and support staff for communicating with and preparing the players for their eventual return. Lamoriello also said he doesn't anticipate any players opting out of the Return to Play Plan.
"My hat is off to our players and our total coaching staff," Lamoriello said via a Zoom call. "Barry organized a plan in the summer where each and every one of our coaches each week talked to different players, so the communication has been tremendous between players and staff.
"Up to this point I don't think we could ask more of our players and our staff," Lamoriello added. "Now it's time to go to work."
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Trotz noted that nothing has been normal about the past four months and training camp will be no exception. While the Islanders
invited 70 players
to main camp in September, only 30 skaters (forwards and defensemen) will be in attendance Monday, though teams are permitted an unlimited number of goalies. There will be daily temperature and symptom checks, as part of the league's COVID-19 testing protocols and instead of starting with three on-ice groups, the Isles will start with two.
The focus of camp will be different too. Instead of teaching a new system, the priorities are conditioning, execution and transitioning into a playoff mindset. Trotz anticipates using the first few days to gauge his team's fitness and readiness.
"We'll find out exactly where everybody is," Trotz said. "The biggest challenge for me is getting up to speed and getting the pace in your game and the execution and all that. We have a mature team and a team that relies on each other and understands the importance of structure and all of those different elements of the team game."
Trotz and Lamoriello both stressed that they'll enter camp with no preconceived notions on the final roster and roles. While there isn't a lot of external competition in the form of PTOs, or free agents, there will be battles for spots and roles internally, especially with a fully-healthy squad. Trotz also said he hadn't decided on an Aug. 1 starter in net, citing how Semyon Varlamov and Thomas Greiss had similar seasons statistically.
"We're going to let it play out a little bit," Trotz said. "I think you have to go in with a plan and some of that plan is based on history. I think there's going to be some opportunity as well for some guys who can grab a spot. Maybe they've been injured or didn't have the year that they thought. They can grab some ice time. We're going to go into that first game with the knowledge of some of the past, the knowledge of the present and what we see and the knowledge of what we need to beat the Panthers and try to have all the boxes checked for all the roles we have on our team and all the things we may encounter."
