Lou Lamoriello expresses supreme confidence in the NY Islanders defensive core

The New York Islanders' team defense took a step back for much of last season, though they were much improved after Patrick Roy took over in late January. Before that, despite their reputation as a sound and shutdown defensive team, the Isles had a leaky blueline, giving among the most shots and high-danger shots per game in the National Hockey League.

The defense is expected to look the same as it did for most of the season, with Mike Reilly resigned and Scott Mayfield fully healthy after battling an ankle injury that eventually forced him to miss the remainder of the season and the playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The one subtraction is veteran Robert Bortuzzo, who signed a one-year contract with the Utah Hockey Club. Bortuzzo had found himself in the regular rotation after Mayfield was shut down.

Lou Lamoriello expresses supreme confidence in his defensemen

There are some young defensive prospects coming, but they're a year or two away, meaning that the top-six the Islanders plan to roll out on Opening Night will be a familiar one, and that's fine with General Manager Lou Lamoriello ahead of the start of training camp.

"Our defense, you look at Pelech and Pulock; when they were paired together a couple of years ago, they were one of the best pairs in the league," said Lamoriello on Friday when addressing the media. When you look at the growth of Dobson, the growth of Romanov, they're young defensemen. I'll put our defense up just about anybody,"

Lamoriello added that he is most frequently asked about defensive prospects Calle Odelius and Isaiah George, and there is excitement about seeing them throughout camp this year. However, neither is a realistic option for the seventh defenseman spot.

"I'd like to think all spots are open, but you have to be realistic, too," Lamoriello said on Friday, "We should be pretty well set with the six we have. I'm very interested in seeing where [Dennis] Cholowski is, where [Samuel] Bolduc is, and the young kids that are coming in."

The names will be the same to start the year, but the optimism is that a full training camp under Roy and greater familairity with his system will lead to a more centered defensive philosophy that the team can execute against each night, leading to less high-danger chances against and less reliance on Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov to bail them out.