“Hockey trades” are what will make the Islanders better, according to Lou Lamoriello. But do the Isles have the assets to pull one off?

There were two takeaways from Lamoriello’s press conference Monday. The first was that he felt the team wasn’t going to get better by simply adding players for future assets.

Instead, Lamoriello said he prefers to make “hockey trades.” A hockey trade usually involves two teams swapping players that could help both teams immediately. A recent example was the three-way trade on July 17, 2021, sending Nolan Patrick to the Vegas Golden Knights, Ryan Ellis to the Philadelphia Flyers, and Philippe Myers and Cody Glass to the Nashville Predators. All three teams acquired players they felt — at the time — could help them immediately.

Those kinds of trades are rare at the Trade Deadline. Non-playoff teams will ship off pending unrestricted free agents to playoff teams in exchange for draft picks or prospects. Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise, Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara were all pending UFAs before Monday’s deadline. The Islanders later announced that they extended Clutterbuck and Parise.

That announcement was part of the second takeaway. Lamoriello told fans that his decision to stand pat means he believes in this core. But that begs the question: if Lamoriello wants to make hockey trades this offseason, do other teams believe in the Isles’ core as much as he does?

Before Josh Bailey’s recent hot streak, other teams were likely skeptical of trading for him. Kyle Palmieri has had a torrid second-half, but is it enough to convince other teams to take on his $5 million salary for three more years? The same is true for Anders Lee — but Lamoriello would probably be hesitant to trade the team’s captain. Could Mathew Barzal be on his way out? How about Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Anthony Beauvillier, Ryan Pulock or Scott Mayfield? Perhaps even Kieffer Bellows or Oliver Wahlstrom? Goalie Semyon Varlamov, who received a lot of attention Monday, could be moved too.

What fans should understand from Lamoriello’s press conference are that his two messages are somewhat mutually exclusive. You can’t be overly loyal to an aging, struggling core and expect to capture value from it in the offseason. Lamoriello said he’s disappointed at a lack of offense, but might try and leverage a forward in a future trade. Adding someone who’d be willing to sign long-term would’ve been more helpful. That’s what believing in the core looks like.

Luckily for Lamoriello, he has time on his side. Standing pat bought him — as well as the rest of the league — more time to evaluate his roster. That’s perhaps the most enticing reason to watch and hopefully enjoy the conclusion of a tumultuous season of Islanders hockey.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.