Free agency has begun, and the signings are coming in hot. Even the New York Islanders, a team that rarely makes a move, got in on the party, signing Anthony Duclair and re-signing Mike Reilly. While they’ve been active, the Nashville Predators are arguably the busiest team so far. Just look at all the moves they’ve made one day into free agency.
The Predators had the ability to make some big moves, and they weren’t shy about doing so. Their aggressive offseason makes it hard to ignore the contrast between their general manager (GM), Barry Trotz, and the Islanders’ GM, Lou Lamoriello. Trotz was the Islanders head coach from 2018 until he was fired in 2022. The first job he received was operating the front office of the Predators.
Trotz is starting to put his stamp on the Predators, a team that snuck into the playoffs last season but suddenly looks like one of the contenders in the Western Conference. His vision clashes with Lamoriello’s, and it’s noticeable with the moves he’s made. The two hockey minds have similar ways of evaluating talent, and they both like to build their rosters the same way, with great defense and goaltending leading the way. That said, Trotz is starting to show what he’s capable of and what the Islanders could have looked like, but instead, they are dealing with Lamoriello, who only recently made a big signing.
Trotz Can Finally Make Big Moves
When Trotz coached the Islanders, they never made a big signing. Sure, they gave hefty extensions to Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock. However, aside from acquiring goaltender Semyon Varlamov, all the moves came from within. The Islanders kept the group together as Trotz had them on the doorstep of a Cup Final.
After losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 playoffs in the Eastern Conference Final, the Islanders made minor moves but didn’t make a splash to take the roster to the next level. In the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinal, Trotz had the Islanders one win away from the Stanley Cup Final, but the Lightning edged them out in a seven-game series. A big move would surely put them over the top, but they didn’t make a big move one way or another.
It seemed like Trotz was on board with the decision to remain quiet in free agency. After all, the Islanders have great defense and goaltending and didn’t need to tweak the roster much to contend. Since his departure from the team, it’s become clear that there was a rift in how he wanted to run the team and how Lamoriello wanted to.
Trotz wanted more of a say in roster decisions, but Lamoriello wouldn’t give him that power. It goes against how Lamoriello operates, as he has complete control over who makes the team, while the head coach determines how they look on the ice. Trotz wanted to change things up, and it’s showing in his moves as the Predators’ GM.
The Predators have already undergone a significant overhaul with Trotz as their GM. Aside from a new coach in Andrew Brunette, they made under-the-radar deals in the 2023 offseason, signing Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly to strengthen the forward unit. Then came this offseason, when Trotz had the cap space and was willing to use it, adding multiple star players to the lineup.
Not long ago, Trotz was behind a Cup-winning team’s bench. He led the Washington Capitals to the title in 2018, notably by fixing the defense while letting the stars run the offense. He’s back with the Predators as their GM, proving he wants to pull out all the stops to bring the Stanley Cup to Nashville.
Lamoriello’s Urge to Avoid Free Agency
This offseason is different as Lamoriello acquired Duclair. However, it’s the outlier, as he’s typically avoided the offseason altogether. Every summer, the thought is that Lamoriello will make a splash and take the Islanders to the next level, but instead, he chooses to keep the roster together, often stating confidence in the group that’s in place.
From Artemi Panarin to Johnny Gaudreau to Nazem Kadri to Alex DeBrincat, the Islanders always seem to have an outside chance of acquiring a star player but come up short. Lamoriello always seems to have a specific deal ready to go but doesn’t want to overspend, so the Islanders come away empty-handed.
In Lamoriello’s defense, overspending and free agency are bad ways to build a contender. Most contracts age poorly and set the team back a few years. Lamoriello can point to the Guadreau and Kadri contracts as prime examples of why he prefers to avoid free agency. That said, every Cup contender is willing to take a swing or two in the offseason, knowing that they need to add talent from outside the organization to compete.
The Florida Panthers were one of the most aggressive teams in recent offseasons. They signed Sergei Bobrovsky to a massive contract in the 2019 offseason and made the big move to acquire Matthew Tkachuk in the 2022 offseason. Fast-forward to the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup title in 2024, with Tkachuk and Bobrovsky playing integral roles.
It’s not just the Panthers. The Vegas Golden Knights rolled the dice on plenty of star players, hoping that some would work out. They did, and it’s why they won it all in 2023. Lamoriello choosing not to make an individual signing is a good idea, but refusing to make any moves at all is a bad idea. It’s a good explanation for why the Islanders took a different path this summer.
Where Trotz & Lamoriello Are Similar GMs
Trotz’s management of the Predators couldn’t be more different from Lamoriello’s management of the Islanders. However, the two GMs value the same positions and build their teams from the net out. They value good defense, great goaltending, and elite scorers in the forward unit once their teams play great on their own end.
The Islanders signed Ilya Sorokin and Varlamov to long-term contracts in the 2023 offseason, indicating a desire to strengthen goaltending. Lamoriello doubled down on the position in the 2024 draft by selecting two goaltenders in the later rounds.
Trotz signed Saros to a long-term deal this offseason and acquired Scott Wedgewood as the backup. Suddenly, there’s no space on the roster for top prospect Yaroslav Askarov, who would be the third string. He could be moved in a trade, but with Trotz valuing the position and the idea that a great team can never have enough elite goaltenders, keeping the prospect on the roster might be his path.
Trotz and Lamoriello contrast in a league that values skill and offense. They want to win with defense and by slowing the game down. Their styles might backfire, but their offseason moves, especially the ones the Predators have made, leave both fanbases feeling good heading into the 2024-25 season.
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