TORONTO — If the Islanders were run by a general manager without a 40-year history of always staying in the fight, there would not be much question that they are on a trajectory to sell at the trade deadline.
But there is only one time in recent memory that Lou Lamoriello went that way — and it came with a flurry of deals in February 2016 during his first season in charge of the Maple Leafs.
That was under quite different circumstances than the Islanders face, with Toronto having made the playoffs just once in the 10 seasons before Lamoriello was put in charge and fielding a young team for which some degree of retooling was always going to be required.
There was not much of a core to hold onto, but the makings of the team which has made the playoffs every year since — and which the Isles will face for the second time in a 10-day span on Tuesday — were already falling into place during the 2015-16 campaign, with a 19-year-old William Nylander making his NHL debut, a 21-year-old Morgan Rielly playing top-pair minutes for the first time and Lamoriello marking his first draft in charge of the Leafs by taking Mitch Marner fourth overall.
The February 2016 sell-off in which the Leafs dealt 11 players, including then-captain Dion Phaneuf to rival Ottawa, helped clear the decks in favor of prospects and picks before an 8-12-1 finish to the season put the Leafs in position to win the No. 1 overall selection and the rights to draft Auston Matthews.
Lamoriello explained the Phaneuf deal, which sent five players to Ottawa for a four-player package including prospect Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 second-round pick, the same way the Islanders could justify moving Brock Nelson or Kyle Palmieri if that is the direction in which they go this March.
“This was a transaction that certainly wasn’t for today,” he told reporters, saying the Leafs had “no choice” but to make a move that simply made too much sense to turn down.
Though the Islanders don’t have young forwards to build around the way Toronto did in 2016, the group of 25-and-under defensemen including Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov and Isaiah George is a firm foundation, while Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat and Ilya Sorokin are all under long-term contracts that are essentially immovable.
Prospects Cole Eiserman and Danny Nelson — both playing for Team USA at World Junior Championships — project to be part of the core one day as well.
The Islanders would like for that transition to happen without taking a step backward, and it is still possible to make the playoffs this season.
They started Monday just five points out of a spot, but sat in 13th place in the East with a 14-16-7 record — their proximity to the playoffs more a matter of other teams struggling than anything the Isles are doing well.
Nelson and Palmieri, both 33 years old and on expiring contracts, would be among the top players available at the deadline if Lamoriello chooses to go in that direction, though both hold 16-team no-trade clauses that could limit the Islanders’ options.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is under contract through the end of next season, could be of value as well if the Isles are willing to part with him.
Such moves would represent the biggest shake-up the Islanders’ core has seen in six years of Lamoriello’s stewardship, and a tacit admission that repeatedly standing by the same group of players has been a mistake.
Still, unless the Islanders start producing different results soon, there might be little choice but to take a step back in order to take two steps forward.
It’s safe to say that’s not the preferred option.
But Lamoriello has done it once before.
