Lou Lamoriello and the NY Islanders miss an opportunity to jumpstart a retool

This was the year the NY Islanders could have moved on from depreciating assets and retool an aging lineup that doesn't have the jump they had during their Conference/Semi-Final runs. This was supposed to be the year.

With some ugly contracts on the books over the last decade, the Islanders haven't had much room to take a run at many free agents, and haven't had the prospects to make deals to try and acquire high-end players via trade.

With Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri in the final year of their contracts, the Islanders could clear $11M heading into free agency, and if having a down season, like they're having, they could move both players for assets to either build through the draft or use in a trade.

The Isles drop the ball at the trade deadline again

Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, it appears as if Lamoriello didn't have much intention to trade Nelson or Palmieri. There have been reports that extensions have been made to both players, with Nelson rejecting the Islanders' offer, forcing Lamoriello's hand into making a trade.

According to David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, the Isles offered Nelson a 3-year contract, which was ultimately turned down.

That trade happened last night when the Isles shipped Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche for highly touted prospect Calum Ritchie and a first-round pick.

After the John Tavares debacle in 2018, Lamoriello didn't have much of an option to allow Nelson to ride out the rest of his contract with the Islanders and hope to re-sign him before the start of free agency on July 1. Otherwise, it's difficult to say Lamoriello wouldn't have taken his chances.