In addition to ongoing negotiations with Mathew Barzal that seem to be going in the right direction, Lou Lamoriello says he has the team he wants to take to the start of the 2020-21 season shortened.
The general manager of Islanders announced on Thursday, during his availability in the pre-season media, that Matt Martin and Andy Greene, the team’s remaining unrestricted free agents, had agreed to their respective terms. In addition, Lamoriello confirmed that former Devils goalkeeper Cory Schneider has also signed a contract with Isles.
Although he had nothing new to report on ongoing talks with Barzal and his camp, Lamoriello said the 23-year-old star center is in New York and quarantined under the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
“It is our intention and his intention to be there [at the start of training camp]and I hope that happens, ”he said in a call from Zoom.
Lamoriello apparently made it a priority to free up space this season to be able to hire Barzal, sending Devon Toews to Colorado and causing Johnny Boychuk to unofficially retire. He arrested Ryan Pulock on a two-year contract and acquired Dmytro Timashov, a restricted free agent who has yet to be signed, from the Red Wings earlier this month.
When asked if he was planning to bring in more players for a test, Lamoriello indicated that the lineup would remain unchanged on the training ground on Sunday.
“I think we are going to stay with the group we have right now,” he said. “Things can always change. A lot will happen over the course of the season. But this will be the group, right now. “
One player who will not be joining the Islanders for the training camp this season is Joshua Ho-Sang, whose management in the organization continues to go round and round. It was reported, and confirmed by The Post, that Ho-Sang would not receive an invitation to the training camp, despite avoiding arbitration in late October and signing a bilateral agreement.
The Islanders made a qualifying offer to Ho-Sang in early October, but the ex-28th chosen in 2014 filed for arbitration to Lamoriello’s surprise.
When it came time to assess the current lineup for the training ground, Lamoriello said he did not think Ho-Sang would break the taxi squad of four to six people that all teams will have this season.
“We decided that we would take four goalkeepers, 12 defenders and 21 attackers, that is, seven lines, knowing that, once we received the transition rules, it would be a list plus a taxi squad of a maximum of four, minimum of six,” Lamoriello said. “When we looked at the whole group to see who we thought had the best chance of making four to six, he was not one of them.”
After defenders Adam Pelech (wrist) and Casey Cizikas (cool retina) underwent successful surgery at the end of last season, Lamoriello confirmed on Thursday that the two are “100 percent healthy” and will do the training complete in the training field.