Three takeaways from Islanders GM presser after firing Barry Trotz

About 30 minutes after the New York Islanders announced that Barry Trotz was fired, GM Lou Lamoriello stepped up to the mic to discuss his decision to change things up behind the Islanders bench.

And while Lou is always and purposefully short on details, there were some interesting nuggets left in that press conference from the Hall-of-Fame GM. Here are three things that I picked up on.

New York Islanders Three takeaways from Lou's presser after firing Trotz

Takeaway 1: Team wasn't listening
Again, Lou is always short on details. It's one of the things everyone knows about him as a GM. So when the media asked Lou why he fired Trotz it was a lot of cliché answers or non-answers:

"It wasn't an easy decision"
And straight up: "I would rather not get into and of the reasons".

But saying the team needed a new voice and saying that the group of players he has can still succeed tells me that these guys stopped responding to Trotz. That seemed clear in the last few weeks of the season. Specifically after the 6-3 loss to the Rangers. You can argue even further back if you focus in on certain players like Oliver Wahlstrom.

When the players stop listening you have to make a change. Because it's not like they'll all of a sudden start listening again.

Takeaway 2: Forward on the move
Lou reiterated something he spoke about in the exit interviews; the idea that the team can be improved upon with "hockey trades". He took a step further today by stating a hockey trade would involve a forward.

Maybe you already figured that out after Lou said he was going to make a hockey trade, but having him say the words is important. We now know the plan or at least a part of it. Lou will look to trade a forward for a defensive upgrade. Think of Beau+ for a top-four D.

Takeaway 3: More offense
The last thing that stands out is Lou's comments about improving the back end. And the type of improvement that needs to be made. The Islanders need more production from the back end.

The Islanders finished 21st in the NHL for goals and points for defensemen with 32 goals and 160 points. Noah Dobson had 13 goals and 51 points which account for 41% and 32% of the blueline's goals and production, respectively. Getting more production from the blueline is obviously necessary. So when it comes to that hockey trade we just talked about an offensive defenseman seems like priority number one.

You probably already figured that but hearing Lou say that's what he's doing is good to hear.