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Islanders' Lamoriello always seems to have one last card to play |
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Lou Lamoriello always seems to have one more card to play, another trick up his sleeve, a final move to make.
The value of Lamoriello’s 40 years of experience as an NHL general manager was on display this weekend when he signed 44-year-old Zdeno Chara.
We don’t know if the Chara is the final piece that will deliver the Islanders’ their first Stanley Cup since 1983. But wha we do know is Lamoriello is a general manager who will pull every lever, take his share of chances and think outside the box to increase his odds of success
At 78, Lamoriello manages as if the future is tomorrow. But that’s the same way he managed when he became the New Jersey Devils’ general manager in 1987. Lamoriello has patience in his make-up, but much prefers his aggressive side.
We saw it many times when he was in New Jersey. Whenever he sensed his team was strong enough to make a run, he threw caution into the Hudson River.
That’s what happened on Long Island this spring. Lamoriello watched his Islanders knocked out of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning for two consecutive years and concluded his team is good enough to win the Stanley Cup.
The door is opening a little wider because the two-time Stanley Cup winning Lightning have seen their depth eroded by salary cap issues and an expansion draft.
That’s all the incentive Lamoriello needed to do a masterful job this summer of figuring out how to keep all of his key regulars, re-signing UFA Kyle Palmieri and adding veterans Zach Parise and Zdeno Chara.
It’s fair to point out that Parise and Chara are past their expiration date. But would it really be surprising if Parise scored 20 goals and Chara was solid, dependable, even beastly from time to time, as a third pairing defenseman?
It’s always been Lamoriello’s style to take a chance on a veteran or prospect in the draft who has slid in the draft.
Going into the offseason, I also saw much speculation that the Islanders might lose a youngster like Kiefer Bellows to get the Seattle Kraken to do what Lamoriello wanted them to do. But Bellows is still on Long Island, as are all of the other veterans Lamoriello wanted to keep.
They had to trade Nick Leddy to clear up space to get it done. But he is going to be an unrestricted free agent next summer and the Islanders wouldn’t have had the cap space to re-sign Leddy. Their priority will be defenseman Ryan Pulock.
The Islanders’ salary cap puzzle for this season is a work of art.
Meanwhile, the Islanders have a team that has a legitimate shot to win the Cup, maybe a better shot than they had last season. With Mathew Barzal a year older, their offense should be improved and their defense seems like it will be just as strong. Their goaltending tandem of Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin is one of the league’s best.
I have a hunch that Parise and Chara will add more to the Islanders than most pundits would believe.
The only problem I see with the Islanders is that at some point Lamoriello and his years of experience will ride off into the sunset. Nobody seems to know when that will happen. The Islanders should view Lamoriello as the team’s 500-pound gorilla. When does a 500-pound gorilla leave? Whenever he wants to.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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