NY Islanders Inking Maxim Tsyplakov Was Likely a Collaborative Effort Led By Jim Paliafito

Paliafito and Lamoriello have proven time and time again that they're willing to go to any length to make sure a player and his family are comfortable with their decision to pack up their lives and head to an unfamiliar continent.

In a 2020 article by James Siegel of The Athletic, Siegel references the lengths Paliafito was willing to go to ensure an unnamed player's wife was comfortable moving to Toronto. Paliafito escorted the player's wife from Europe so she could get a feel for life in Toronto, then flew back with her to Europe before returning to Canada.

If there's one thing Lamoriello has been called throughout his decades-long career in the NHL it's loyal. This along with Paliafito's willingness to go above and beyond to secure a signing makes a deadly duo.

“I represent a lot of Russian players," Millstein told the Toronto Sun in 2017. "Here’s what I tell the GMs I deal with: If you want my player, you have to jump on a plane, you have to make your pitch in person. Because that’s what Lou Lamoriello does.”

It's not known at this point what lengths Paliafito and Lamoriello went to secure Tsyplakov's signature, but it was certainly a team effort, with current and former Islanders likely in his ear telling him all the great things about Long Island.

Millstein, who represents Tsyplakov, also has Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov on his client list, with the two likely assuring their fellow countryman that the Islanders and Long Island were the right fit for him.

While Sorokin and Romanov are future teammates of Tsyplakov, former teammate, Shane Prince has been in the ear of the 6'3" winger while playing together for Spartak Moskva.

“I don’t think he’s ever been to New York,” Prince told Arthur Staple of The Athletic. “He’s asking me a lot about what things cost, like an apartment, how to get around, stuff like that. He’s from Moscow so I think he’ll be fine. He’s a great, great kid, he’s going to put his head down and work hard every day. Islander fans are really going to like him.”

With Tsyplakov now signed, the ball will be in his court to make the roster out of training camp and transition as a power forward into the NHL.