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There is good news and better news for the Islanders.
A day after the NHL announced its plan to return with a 24-team playoff format, general manager and president Lou Lamoriello said on a conference call everyone on the roster is healthy — including top defenseman Adam Pelech — and construction on the team’s new Belmont arena has resumed.
It was a mostly optimistic 30-minute call in which Lamoriello expressed confidence in the plan set forth by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman — the seventh-seeded Islanders would face the No. 10 Panthers in a best-of-five qualifying series — and expressed his belief that the league and players’ association are doing all they can to give fans a full postseason in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“In my opinion, the league and the union have done a tremendous job in coming up with the best possible scenario they could to satisfy all the individual situations of each team, barring none,” Lamoriello said. “Everyone had input. Everyone had an opportunity to express their concerns on either side.
“I’m totally supportive of what the results were and just excited we have a template to get back, certainly knowing there are a lot of details that have to be worked out. Until that’s done, we won’t have a full picture of everything. But we’re proceeding and looking forward to getting started and playing.”
Lamoriello said certain Islanders players are in the process of getting back to the area, but he declined to disclose how many of them remained local. Limited workouts can begin, possibly in early June as part of the league’s Phase 2 reopening.
Lamoriello said he is comfortable and confident with the plan in place, though there could be bumps along the way due to the ever-changing nature of the virus.
“There are certain things that are step-by-step, but everything is pointing in the right direction,” he said. “I’m comfortable today because of the state of where we are in our country and our area, and the progression that its made with the distancing, the masks, the discipline the majority of our country has had. I just hope we continue to stay on that path.”
There are details left to be resolved, including the length of the first two playoff series, which two hub cities will host the games, numerous health and safety issues, and the dates of the contests. Once play can be resumed, the Islanders are expecting to be at full strength, a significant development for a team that struggled prior to the season’s postponement on March 12, going 0-3-4 down the stretch. Getting back Pelech — out since Jan. 2 with an injured Achilles tendon — would be a major boost, as would the return of center Casey Cizikas (leg laceration) and defenseman Johnny Boychuk (eye laceration).
“Certainly, [Pelech] is a valuable piece to our team,” Lamoriello said. “He’s physical healthy, he feels good. He’s ready to play.”
“We will have every player available to us,” he added. “Everybody should be healthy to go and physically able to do so.”
As for the Belmont arena, Lamoriello said construction resumed Wednesday and the expectation is it is still on target to open in October 2021 as originally planned. Construction was halted March 27 due to the coronavirus.
“It’s a great sight that’s happening and the most comfortable feeling is we were ahead of schedule when this all took place and I do not think and believe there will be any hiccups or delays of when we’re supposed to be open,” he said. “And that’s great news.”
