The New York Islanders need to take a page out of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ book for once

The New York Islanders could look toward the Toronto Maple Leafs for an example of how to handle player injury updates.

Allow me to elaborate.

The entire Ilya Sorokin saga has left fans and the media scratching their heads. While it seems that Sorokin’s injury isn’t as serious as initially believed, the secrecy behind the matter has been dumbfounding.

Of course, it’s fine for Isles’ GM Lou Lamoriello to maintain a certain degree of discretion. It’s fine especially since we’re all human beings and entitled to a certain degree of privacy.

However, Islanders’ coach Patrick Roy’s Freudian slip let the cat out of the bag. Roy cooly told the media that Sorokin had surgery, directly contradicting Lamoriello’s earlier comments.

To this point, we're yet to know the extent of Sorokin's injury, how long he may be out, or if and when he'll be part of training camp.

But the main issue lingers. It's relatively easy to see where the situation is headed by the moves the team has made. For instance, bringing in Keith Kinkaid on a PTO was an insurance move Lamoriello made to provide depth in case Sorokin is out for a prolonged period.

Well, it’s not the first time something like this has happened. Last season, little was known about Scott Mayfield’s broken leg. He played nearly half the season hurt, but fans and the media knew little about it. So, it's not a stretch to get radio silence from Islanders' management.

So, that brings me to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team's captain Auston Matthews has missed time with injury during the Leafs' training camp. As you can imagine, Leafs fans are holding their collective breaths. But that's the all the more reason why the Toronto coach has made public statements about Matthews' injury

The New York Islanders should consider being proactive with the media about player injuries

Earlier this week, Leafs coach Craig Berube told the media about Matthews' injury, describing it as an upper-body issue. While most teams don't go into greater details, Berube was upfront about it. He was clear that the team would rather shut down Matthews now, before the issue becomes a bigger one.

Like this Matthews situation, the Maple Leafs have also been upfront about other player injuries. In fact, GM Brad Treliving has gone as far as brief the media on the extent of player injuries.

For instance, Treliving mentioned that forward Connor Dewar would miss the beginning of training as Dewar was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Similarly, Treliving mentioned that top prospect Fraser Minten had suffered a high-ankle sprain during one of the games in the rookie tournament.

That was it.

Treliving didn’t need to provide extensive details on each player’s injury. He mentioned the player and stated his injury. Moreover, Treliving didn’t offer a firm timeline for their return as he was unsure about that.

In conclusion, the New York Islanders could take a page out of Brad Treliving’s book. Say what you will about the Toronto Maple Leafs. But this time, the Leafs did the right thing by addressing the media about player injuries before it even became an issue.

If Lamoriello had come clean about Sorokin’s back surgery, the media would have understood why Sorokin had a down year. Moreover, an entire summer’s worth of speculation could have been focused on more productive discussion.