What are the New York Islanders Waiting for in Free Agency?

Someone should tell the New York Islanders that free agency has begun.

It’s been over a week since teams were able to start signing unrestricted free agents, but the Islanders have not yet made a single move, and that’s not an exaggeration.

The only things Lou Lamoriello and company have done since the offseason started are fire a successful head coach in Barry Trotz and acquire Alexander Romanov from the Montreal Canadiens.

Nothing else has happened for the Islanders, which is mind-blowing. They’re the only team to not work out at least one contract. Even if it was a two-way contract for a player that will spend the season in the AHL, at least it would have been something.

What are the Islanders waiting for?

There were rumblings that the Isles could make a run at forward Johnny Gaudreau, but instead, he chose one of New York’s Metropolitan Division rivals.

So, offensively, the Islanders look like they’ll be similar to last season’s group. It doesn’t seem to be a bad collection of forwards, but when no player scores more than 59 points in a season, it might be an area worth addressing.

The team also seems set to bring back the same goaltending tandem that it had in place last season, making the defensive group the only one that requires additional work.

Zdeno Chara and Andy Greene are both free agents, while Romanov and former first-round pick Noah Dobson are restricted free agents.

According to CapFriendly, New York does have a lot of its roster already in place, but that doesn’t make this lack of activity any less odd. It also doesn’t justify the Islanders looking overwhelmingly the same as last season, considering that this team missed the playoffs.

Sure, there won’t be a 13-game road trip to start this season, but that wasn’t the only thing holding the Islanders back. Plus, with teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators making huge strides forward, things are only getting more competitive in the Eastern Conference.

To recap, their coach is gone, they failed to sign Gaudreau and literally every other free agent so far, and the strength of this team is where the most questions remain.

In the NHL, as is the case in all facets of life, if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward, and the Islanders are running in reverse at a rapid pace.