Out of Sync?

A flurry of roster moves ahead of blown 3-0 lead to Florida

AAs we get deeper into the start of the season, the New York Islanders are struggling to find consistency and issues of the past are rearing their heads once again. Are they just finding their way in the early going? Or are fans in for another roller coaster ride of good, bad, and ugly? Ethan Sears of the NY Post join Sean & Stefen to try to figure it out.

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Good Morning, Islanders Country.

Programming Note: I’ll be joined by former New York Islanders VP of Communications, Chris Botta, for a conversation later tonight. It’ll be included in Tuesday’s newsletter and posted on all podcast platforms.

At his introductory press conference, Patrick Roy emphasized that he had communicated to Lou Lamoriello that he had “zero interest in management” when they spoke about the possibility of his returning to the NHL.

That’s still probably true, but Roy is giving off the impression that he may not be fully aligned with Lamoriello’s recent transactions. The two were in lockstep at the end of last season, and that appeared to be the case throughout training camp, especially when Pierre Engvall was placed on waivers with six years remaining on his contract after Roy was dissatisfied with his performance.

However, a flurry of moves that preceded Saturday night’s 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers and the unusual events and comments afterward have fans questioning whether the partnership between fellow Hall-of-Famers is as solid as suggested.

"Having Marty back in the lineup, he brings leadership experience and that physicality that we feel, and Lou thinks is important for us," Roy said when asked about new additions. "And Pierre, we know what he did for this team in the past two years, and Lou thought it was a good moment for him to be back and play."

It’s subtle, but you would expect this to be “we think” and “we thought” instead of referring to these as Lamoriello's decisions that he, as head coach, has to make the most out of. At least, that’s how it came across.

Those comments came after the Islanders didn’t make Roy available to speak to the media despite league mandates. Instead, Lamoriello spoke alone about why Martin was signed, Liam Foudy was sent down, and Engvall and Hudson Fasching were back up to fill out the 23-man roster.

These moves are all downstream from the Anthony Duclair injury. The Islanders don’t have an obvious answer to replace Duclair on the top line, but it’s reasonable to assume that Roy may value a player like Foudy more than he does Martin or that Engvall still hasn’t earned his trust to be playing, even on a fourth line, as he did on Saturday.

“Patrick and I speak every single day,” Lamoriello said before the game. “We’re on the exact same page as far as anything that transpires and how we do things.”

It may be the same book, but it doesn’t feel like they are 100% on the same page. Expect Roy to be asked about his comments and alignment with Lamoriello after practice later today. It will almost certainly be dismissed as a non-issue as they try to turn whatever page they are both on.

Internal disputes and disagreements are not a problem; they are even healthy in a good working environment. Diversity of thought! For now, we have nothing to go on beyond what we heard and saw on Saturday, but it’ll make everyone pay a little closer attention to the relationship moving forward.