Lou Lamoriello was to the point, as usual, when discussing how he will approach this offseason.
“We will do everything we can to keep the core together,” he said. “It will be impossible because of expansion and also because of free agency that comes about. And also some of our young players we think might be ready for NHL time. So these will be difficult decisions, but I’d rather have these type of decisions than no decisions at all.”
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The Islanders fell just short of the Stanley Cup Final for a second consecutive season. And also for a second consecutive season, the Isles have a tricky path to staying a Cup contender in 2021-22 thanks to the flat salary cap, the Seattle expansion draft in three weeks and a slew of restricted and unrestricted free agents, just about all of whom Lamoriello would love to retain.
Here’s the Islanders president/general manager on a number of topics during his Tuesday conference call.
Casey Cizikas
Speaking of the Islanders’ core, Cizikas is the most prominent of the Isles’ unrestricted free agents.
“There’s no question what Casey Cizikas has brought to the team. We will do everything we possibly can to try and have him come back,” Lamoriello said. “Certainly, his set of circumstances is unique and also maybe positive because he’s a UFA (unrestricted free agent) and we do not have to make any decisions with (respect to the expansion draft). We will continue to talk with him. He expressed his desire to come back but we also know when you get into free agency, it’s a time for the player to make the decision for him, his family and his future. We respect that, but we’ll do everything we can to retain Casey.”
Lamoriello doesn’t give much away in these conversations but it’s clear both sides want to continue this relationship. Lamoriello said similar things about Matt Martin last offseason, and even though Martin’s camp fielded interest from several teams on the first day of free agency, Martin’s desire to return to the Island was great enough that his four-year deal worth $6 million was agreed to verbally barely a day into free agency, weeks before it was announced.
It’s easy to see a similar experience with Cizikas, who, like Martin (and Cal Clutterbuck), is represented by Pat Morris. If Cizikas doesn’t sign soon after the July 28 start of free agency, it wouldn’t be at all a shock to get wind of a longer-term deal than you’d expect for the 30-year-old center at a lower annual average value (AAV) than Cizikas would fetch on the open market — something in the neighborhood of six years at $2.5 million per season, for instance.
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The time pressure isn’t there with the expansion draft because Seattle would be foolish to pick Cizikas without him having a contract and free agency a week away following the July 21 expansion draft.
Kyle Palmieri
The Isles’ other main UFA, Palmieri was brought in before the trade deadline as primarily a rental to fill the void left by Anders Lee’s knee injury. Palmieri’s seven-goal playoff run may have ignited some interest in a long-term deal, and Lamoriello expressed that Tuesday.
“If the question is, would we like to have Kyle Palmieri back? The answer is yes,” Lamoriello said. “I have had a conversation with Kyle and I have asked him if he would want to come back if something could potentially be worked out, and the answer was yes. He knows our circumstances with the cap. He is a total free agent, so he is outside the expansion thought process. We potentially cannot keep every player, so you never know what transpires. We have an open mind. Our coaching staff felt the same way, how well he fit in and his success in the playoffs. He is someone we have a strong intention to bring back, if possible.”
Those last two words are pretty large in Palmieri’s case: He’s only coming back if someone else leaves. It’s hard to imagine he signs for upwards of $4.5 million to $5 million per year to be the third-line wing, so if the Islanders lose a top-six wing to Seattle or decide to make a trade, then Palmieri jumps a bit higher on the Isles’ wish list.
Failing that, it’s close to impossible. There are basically no right wings coming on the UFA market with Palmieri’s pedigree, so he will command a lot of interest and the potential for solid money and a large role. He’s a local, so that helps if he can return, but it’s not the deciding factor.
The expansion draft
Lamoriello said the front office hasn’t yet decided on the Islanders protected list, which needs to be submitted by July 17. Unless he wants to entice the Kraken to take, say, Jordan Eberle so the Isles can sign Palmieri, there appears to be only one real decision: Nick Leddy or Scott Mayfield. The third option is to trade assets to Seattle to get the Kraken to select someone other than Leddy or Mayfield, though the Isles’ list of assets is short.
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“It is what it is,” Lamoriello said of the expansion draft. “We certainly will make whatever the best decision is for our team. Those decisions have not been made at this point.”
The big three RFAs
Lamoriello made sure to express regret Tuesday for the Devon Toews trade from November. The Islanders had three key restricted free agents last offseason: Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock and Toews. The GM decided he couldn’t sign all three and sent Toews to the Avalanche for two second-round draft picks.
This offseason, there are again three key RFAs: Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech and Ilya Sorokin. Lamoriello sounded resolute in how he plans to approach their contracts.
“Devon certainly was not something we wanted to do,” he said. “We have no intention of allowing the three restricted free agents to not be signed.”
The Islanders could get away with another one-year deal for Sorokin at a small bump from the $2 million he made this season, though how small could be mitigated by the way the goalie finished the season — it’s hard to see Sorokin signing for $2.5 million off winning a playoff round. But if he comes in around $3 million, it would be palatable.
Beauvillier is a tricky one. He scored the biggest goal of the playoffs, winning Game 6 of the semis in overtime, and his 13 points were tied for second on the team in the playoffs. He’s still two seasons away from UFA, so the Isles could go short again and put off a bigger payday.
Pelech is going to get paid, period. He’s a year away from UFA, so unless Lamoriello wants to gamble with arguably the team’s second-most important skater, this should be longer-term and expensive — befitting the top defenseman on the roster. Jonas Brodin signed with the Wild for seven years at $6 million per year in September. Brodin has produced more offense on a lesser team.
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“(Pelech) is way more important to what the Islanders do than Brodin is to Minny,” a league source said.
UBS Arena and next season
Lamoriello said the 2021-22 schedule hasn’t been set yet but he’s anticipating the Islanders starting on the road for all of October before UBS Arena is ready. Nassau Coliseum appears to have closed its doors to the Islanders for good as Lamoriello said the Isles home preseason schedule in the fall will be played at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., home to the AHL Islanders.
It would likely be a western Canada swing to start for four games or so — the Isles may not be able to visit Seattle in October because the Kraken’s arena is going to be cutting it close for opening night — and then games against nearby teams back east so players can sleep in their own beds for a few nights.
“It’s a moving target,” Lamoriello said of the schedule. But expect a long road trip to start. There’s plenty of precedent: The Rangers began the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons with seven- and nine-game trips while Madison Square Garden went through two stages of renovations. All the Rangers did those seasons was reach the conference final and the Cup final.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee
Lee, as he said Sunday, will be ready for training camp in September after having surgery on his torn ACL at the end of March. And Lamoriello confirmed that Pageau had surgery Monday to repair a thumb injury. He, too, will be ready for camp, Lamoriello said.
Andrew Ladd and potential buyouts
“He is healthy today,” Lamoriello said of Ladd, who played one game with Bridgeport this season. “What his future is I cannot answer but he is under contract.”
Ladd has two years left at $5.5 million per year. If Ladd were to go on long-term injured reserve next season, Lamoriello would be able to breathe a lot easier, but if Ladd’s not injured, it can’t happen. Any trade of assets (the Isles’ 2022 first-round pick, say, or a young prospect) would likely include a discussion/demand to take Ladd’s contract with it, either to Seattle or somewhere else. Perhaps with just two seasons to go, it’s an option, though a long shot.
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Lamoriello said he will be open to all options, including buyouts, to gain a few cap dollars wherever he can. Leo Komarov, with one year at $3 million remaining, and Thomas Hickey (one year, $2.5 million AAV) are the likeliest buyout candidates as those buyouts would save $1.67 million each against the 2021-22 cap.
Ladd’s salary is almost all signing bonus, so a buyout barely saves anything — just $667,000 in each of the next two seasons.
Bridgeport staff
Lamoriello has not sat down with his son Chris, the Bridgeport GM, to discuss any potential changes to the AHL staff.
“We’re going through a big renovation in Bridgeport in a lot of areas,” Lamoriello said, referring to changing the AHL team name and logo from the Sound Tigers, among other business-side developments.
There will be no prospect camp this summer, either, though Lamoriello said the team tried to bring in all of their key prospects to skate with the taxi squad after the 24-game AHL season ended. Presumably, Islanders training camp will be well-attended in September and players will be encouraged to arrive on the Island early to get work in.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
