Lou Lamoriello isnt ready for any Islanders trade deadline hypotheticals

LAS VEGAS — Two months out from the NHL’s trade deadline, selling off assets is “not even a thought” in the mind of Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello. That is in keeping with his history, and the Islanders waking up Thursday morning in 15th place in the 16-team Eastern Conference — with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri both on expiring contracts — is not enough to change things as of now. “Where we are in the season and where we are in the standings, where everything’s in reach, that’s the focus,” Lamoriello said, citing the five-point gap between the Islanders and Blue Jackets, who currently occupy a second wild-card spot that has changed hands constantly of late.“The focus is on who we are here, right now, not how hypothetically or if this, if that.

[I’m] just not from that school.Right now, we’re just focused on playing the best hockey we can and seeing where we’re at, at the appropriate time.

But I’m not even thinking about that.” What about the possibility that the Islanders could see Nelson or Palmieri — both of whom would be among the most valuable assets available at the deadline — walk away for no return, as infamously happened with John Tavares in 2018? “Once again, you’re dealing with a hypothetical situation.I don’t get into that,” Lamoriello said.

“I don’t mean that not to answer your question.It’s just fact and truth, if you have any sort of background to what I believe.

And it’s not something in my mind right now.” So if one thought, at the midpoint of a season which has so far run totally opposite to how the Islanders envisioned, that the organization’s modus operandi would change, well, no. During a 20-minute session between Lamoriello and reporters before the Islanders took on the Golden Knights on Thursday, that was the big takeaway.The five-point margin to the playoff cutline is more encouragement to Lamoriello than the way they’ve played for much of the season is discourag...