Islanders Barry Trotz And Lou Lamoriello Are Not The Answer

The New York Islanders have now lost eleven straight games. The team is simply not good enough to compete in this league with the players on this roster using the system Barry Trotz and Lou have in place. This is not a new view because of the early failure of a season, but rather a view I have held for quite some time now.

Barry Trotz refuses to play young players that have the ability to score and make plays. Instead he sticks with guys like Chara, who is basically an ancient relic on skates. Robin Salo had a great few games in his NHL debut, and brings some offensive ability to the Islanders putrid offense output from their defense. He has not played since Chara came back from COVID-19 protocol.

The Islanders signed players to deals that may wind up hurting them for quite some time. If the team is still in this spot come the trade deadline. What team in their right mind will take on one of these long contracts from players like Palmieri who are downright bad?

New York Islanders Barry Trotz And Lou Lamoriello Are Not The Answer

Lou is insistent on signing guys who play a "team first" game, but that has put the Islanders in a horrible position. There are no playmakers on this team, and the only dynamic player is Mat Barzal, who is constantly trying to do everything himself while complaining to officials game in and game out.

If you try to make the argument that the Islanders made the Eastern Conference finals two years in a row, great. Let's look at both of those seasons.

Two years ago a global pandemic started, the season was shortened and the Islanders got a huge break to rest for the playoffs. Last year, they just snuck into the playoffs after falling apart at the end of the season. Yes, they are built for the playoffs, but there are 82 games before that in the regular season.

The lack of scoring and lack of mobility in the defense is a factor which unfortunately won't be addressed by either Lou or Trotz. It's a hard pill to swallow when it seems everyone knows the answers except the GM and coach.