The New York Islanders are eager for the chance to prove the critics wrong.
They had a relatively quiet offseason after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017-18, but from the point of view of general manager Lou Lamoriello, prospective trades would not have made them better than the core that reached the third round of the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The belief is the goalie tandem (Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov), five solid defensemen no older than 29, a 37-goal scorer at first-line center and a rugged fourth line is enough to compensate for being the only team yet to sign an unrestricted free agent.
For the underachieving Islanders (37-35-10), the answers must come from within to compete in the Eastern Conference, where eight teams (four from the Metropolitan Division) had at least 100 points last season. Though Lamoriello said with culpability there's no disappointment, otherwise there would have been drastic changes, there was also confidence about "getting back at it and maybe proving everybody wrong."
"Everybody gets better, either by addition or internally," Lamoriello told NHL.com. "In our case, at this point, internally is where we have to get better. We did add, in my opinion, a top-five defenseman, a left-hand shot we needed, and we feel very good about that. We have to compete against ourselves more than worry about what the other people are doing."
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That top-five defenseman is Alexander Romanov, a 22-year-old acquired from the Montreal Canadiens on July 7 for the No. 13 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Romanov (three years), emerging defenseman Noah Dobson (three years) and forward Kieffer Bellows (one year) each signed a contract Aug. 22. Center Brock Nelson is back after scoring an NHL career-high 37 goals. Captain Anders Lee scored 28 goals in 76 games after the forward had ACL surgery in March of 2021.
"When you look at Anders, he's coming off a very serious year-ending injury that you don't come back and heal from in a short period of time," Lamoriello said, "so I think you'll see a better Anders Lee this year on the ice. As far as Brock, he's gotten better and better every year. He doesn't think about scoring. He thinks about winning, so whatever his statistics are ... it's just the wins and when you get the points."
Though the Islanders need offense after averaging 2.79 goals per game last season, tied with the Buffalo Sabres for 22nd in the NHL, they will not give up an identity established in the previous four. New York's average of 2.56 goals against per game since 2018-19 is second behind the Boston Bruins (2.52).
"Our team is built a certain way," Lamoriello said. "I don't apologize for it. I believe in it. It starts with our goaltending, goes through our defense. I'm a goal-differential type of a person. You win hockey games by scoring more goals. It doesn't any matter how many, it's differential that allows that to happen."
