The New York Islanders finally made noise — sort of — in the offseason when they recently signed Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, and Kieffer Bellows to extensions. New York also signed Alexander Romanov to add to their blue line. However, those transactions are hardly enough to put big smiles on the faces of Islanders fans who wanted more from the team's front office that's led by general manager Lou Lamoriello. Heading into the offseason, the Islanders were among the rumored teams with a good shot at landing either Nazem Kadri or Johnny Gaudreau.
Neither signed with the team; Kadri, fresh off a successful Stanley Cup championship run with the Colorado Rockies, has found his way to the Calgary Flames, while Gaudreau decided against re-signing with the Flames before inking a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Lamoriello would later explain the reasoning behind the Islanders' failure to make a huge splash in free agency, saying that it all came down to price.
“Lou Lamoirello said the @NYIslanders looked at ‘many different options' in the UFA market but that “the price you have to pay to upgrade at one position” could end up downgrading the team in another position.”
The Islanders' relative silence in the market could spell doom for Lamoriello as the franchise's general manager — or it could turn out to be a smart move, which will heavily depend on how New York will perform on the ice in the 2022-23 NHL season.
The Islanders are coming off a disappointing season in which they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years and will be heading into a new one without Barry Trotz, who got fired last May.
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