Islanders coach, Barry Trotz loved what he saw from JG Pageau in his Isles debut. He very strongly stated that he didn’t care about the picks in the trade.
Last night was the New York Islanders debut for JG Pageau. From period number one, it was pretty clear the impact that he was going to have on this Islander team. For the first time all year that third line looked extremely productive.
Yes, Michael Dal Colle was still doing MDC things but the pairing of Bailey and Pageau on line three really deepens things for the Islanders.
In Pageau’s first game as an Islander he scored a big-time goal and stood up for one of his teammates. Jacob Trouba laid a questionable hit on Dal Colle and JG didn’t think twice about taking on Trouba who is much bigger than he is.
Anyway, after the game, Barry Trotz stood up for his General Manager while praising the job that JG did last night.
"“The picks are nothing. I can tell you that because a lot of picks never play.”"
Some critics, on the National level mostly, say the Islanders gave up too much for Pageau. Well, as Trotz said picks mean nothing for this team right now. They are in “win now” mode and a 20th-31st overall draft pick in 2020 means nothing for their window of opportunity.
In Lou, Barry, and JG we trust.
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