Patrick Roy wanted Anthony Duclair on the NY Islanders and Lou Lamoriello got him

New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy wanted unrestricted free agent Anthony Duclair and GM Lou Lamoriello went out and got him. The 28-year-old signed a four-year contract with the Isles on the first day of NHL free agency with a modest cap hit of $3.5M AAV.

"When you have a coach that wants you, that's all you want," said Duclair on Monday. Roy is familiar with Duclair from when he played for the Hall-of-Famer with the Quebec Remparts. Talking to the media, he said the presence of Roy behind the bench played a "huge" factor in his decision to sign with the Islanders. He tallied 116 points (51G, 65A) in 118 games under Roy from 2011-13 in juniors.

Entering his 11th season, Duclair will now slide in somewhere in the Islanders' top-six, adding depth to a forward group that boasted four 30-goal scorers last season. "My job is to bring speed and offense," said Duclair. "Looking at the roster, we have good players up front and a lot of skill.
I look forward to amplifying that forward group."

Duclair is also familiar with Isles center JG Pageau, as the two played together for 79 games with the Ottawa Senators. Despite being known as an offensive player, Duclair often was paired up with Pageau to kill penalties while with the Sens. He represented Ottawa at the 2020 All-Star Game after scoring 21 goals and 30 points in his first 38 games of that season. He scored a career-best 31 goals with the Florida Panthers in 74 games two seasons ago.

After being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the deadline last season, Duclair will join his ninth NHL team. In 563 games, he has scored 146 goals and 157 assists with the New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Sens, Panthers, San Jose Sharks and Lightning.

After bouncing around the league the last several years, Duclair wanted stablility and belives he found it with the stable presence of Patrick Roy coaching him once again.