Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello Shares Pre-Draft Updates

Here's the latest from New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello following his media availability in Nashville.

New York Islanders Re-sign Defenseman Samuel Bolduc

NASHVILLE -- After not meeting with the media immediately following their elimination from the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello spoke with the media on June 6.

There were no updates regarding the coaching staff, with Lamoriello citing that he had more questions he needed answers to.

On Tuesday, Lamoriello addressed us in Nashville, but everything remained status quo.

Let's dive into a few things not noted in this tweet (character limit).

John Collins, who was hired on June 8 to manage the business side of Islanders operations, will not impact Lamoriello's role with the club.

"Well, first of all, I think it's a great addition," Lamoriello said. "John was in the National Hockey League. Certainly got to know him extremely well. I worked with him in a lot of different situations. I said I was extremely pleased when all of this worked out. He'll be handling the business operation, overseeing it, and as far as our interaction or relationship, whatever, in whatever way we can make things better, we'll do that.

"But it is separate."

Lamoriello also shared that he will not be qualifying a few of his restricted free agents, but wasn't ready to share who yet until the players were notified.

The deadline to qualify RFAs is this Friday, June 30.

Don't be shocked if defenseman Bode Wilde is one of those names.

I also double-checked to make sure the Islanders would get a second buyout window if Collin Adams filed for arbitration, the only player on the roster eligible.

I did ask Lamoriello about Samuel Bolduc, as the Islanders signed the 22-year-old defenseman to a one-way two-year extension worth $1.6 million.

Bolduc, the Islanders' second-round pick in 2019, took a bit to develop at the minor league level, but after a few years, he got an opportunity at the NHL level this past season.

In 17 games with New York -- not including two postseason contests with Alexander Romanov injured -- Bolduc recorded two goals and an assist, averaging 14:25 minutes per game.

In 56 games with Bridgeport, Bolduc was an All-Star with 10 goals and 25 assists.

"Well, we certainly know what his abilities are. And we saw flashes of it, and we have to get that to be consistent. But he has all the tools [...] Now it's up to us to get them all in the box, where he can be extremely effective."

In terms of the draft, Lamoriello shared it's unlikely we see New York trade into the first round but didn't rule anything out.

When NHL.com's Dan Rosen asked Lamoriello if he believed that trades would happen more this off-season due to a lack of a deep free agency class, here's what the Islanders GM had to say:

T"his is a unique year for a lot of reasons because of the cap. And when you talk unique because of the cap, you also have to think of the year coming up after this year and the year coming up after that. We're in this position because of what happened with assumptions -- which it's real bad word -- of where the cap would be. So some of the signings that we made three years ago [...] we would not have done because, in your planning, you also know what the progression will be and can be because of where the revenues are going.

"So, to now get to your question, whether there'll be trades... you saw what just happened? (Tyler Toffoli, Kevin Hayes etc) with decisions being made to try and move people for a lot of different reasons. So I think you'll see more of that..."