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Should The New York Islanders Start A Rebuild Sooner Rather Than Later?

By Ant Barberio

ELMONT, NEW YORK - JANUARY 13: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebrates his game-winning goal at 15:07 of the third period against the New Jersey Devils at the UBS Arena on January 13, 2022 in Elmont, New York. The Islanders defeated the Devils 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ELMONT, NEW YORK - JANUARY 13: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebrates his game-winning goal at 15:07 of the third period against the New Jersey Devils at the UBS Arena on January 13, 2022 in Elmont, New York. The Islanders defeated the Devils 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The New York Islanders made the very drastic step of firing their head coach Barry Trotz in his only playoff-less season with the team. Drastic coaching coaches are nothing new from Lou Lamoriello’s playbook. Most of the time, they even work out for him.

This time might be different. The Islanders are a team of overused veterans, with only Mathew Barzal being in the prime of his career. Not to mention their deals aren’t exactly short or cap friendly. Maybe it’s time for the Islanders to embrace the rebuild.

The farm system for the Island is among the NHL’s worst. The Hockey News’ recent future watch edition ranked their prospect pipeline 30th in the NHL. That’s a far fall from the 4th place ranking they had in 2019. The only Islanders prospect in the NHL’s top 100 is center Aatu Raty, who ranks 61st but isn’t expected to be in the NHL until 2024-2025.

Barry Trotz is gone. Should the New York Islanders plan for the future and rebuild, or hope this past year was an outlier and they can return to playing winning hockey?

Remember, the islanders traded three early-round draft picks for Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the 2020 trade deadline, which is most likely a factor. This year the Islanders select 13th overall, so an immediate impact is unlikely. That’s if they keep the pick at all. In a similar situation, in the 2013 NHL entry draft when the New Jersey Devils seemed like a prime rebuild candidate with a top ten pick, Lou Lamoriello traded the ninth overall pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Corey Schneider. The trade kept the Devils relevant for a few seasons but nowhere near their usual winning ways.

If the Islanders decide to rebuild, Lamoriello might not be the perfect general manager. There’s the previous example we just mentioned of his refusal to rebuild in New Jersey until he handed over the reins to Ray Shero. Lamoriello got incredibly lucky winning the Auston Matthews draft lottery during his brief time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ask any Devils fan and they will also tell you the horror stories of him and scout Dave Conte’s draft picks in the final decade or so with the Devils.

In four years and three drafts, Lamoriello has spent with the Islanders he has only used his first-round pick once. That was back in 2019 on Simon Holmstrom who has yet to play in the NHL. We will give Lamoriello credit that the players he traded those first-round picks for were not rentals. Both major acquisitions, Kyle Palmieri and Pageau, re-signed with the team with the lone exception being Travis Zajac, who retired following his brief stay in blue and orange.

Even if his trade acquisitions re-sign, that has not stopped father time from ticking away. Maybe they keep the 13th overall pick, maybe they trade it for a favorable trade package. One thing that is for sure is that youth is needed on the island.

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