New York Islanders Examples of Lou Finding Great Goalies

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ST LOUIS, MO – MAY 17: Dainius Zubrus #9 of the San Jose Sharks (not pictured) scores an empty net goal during the third period against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center on May 17, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

The New York Islanders are in need of a starting goalie. Thankfully their GM is now Lou Lamoriello and not Garth Snow. Cause Lou has a fantastic track record when it comes to this specific situation.

With Jaroslav Halak out of a contract and Thomas Greiss looking very much like an OK NHL backup, the New York Islanders don’t have a starter going into the 2018-19 NHL season.

(Even if Halak had a contract this season he still wouldn’t be starter material because he was bad too.)

Heck, they don’t even have a guy that can get NHL average goaltending on the roster. Remember, that the NHL average was a 2.78GAA and .912 SV% in 2017-18. Halak, Greiss, and even Christopher Gibson were significantly worse than that.

So Lou Lamoriello has to find a goalie to come in and play 50-60 games a season. It can’t be another 1A-1B situation like last season cause he isn’t going to get any help. Getting a keeper that’s above average and can come relatively cheap would be ideal.

From what we can understand the New York Islanders have shown interest in Washington Capitals backup Philipp Grubauer. The Caps backup is an RFA and is surplus to requirements in the US capital.

But the question is, can this backup take on a starter’s workload? It’s a risky move. Can it pay off?

If you look at Islanders President and GM Lou Lamoriello’s track record, the answer is yes. The man knows what he’s doing in exactly this situation. He’s done it twice before and he’s batting 1.000.