Over and over during their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders kept saying that the strength of their team was in their group. And of course, they’re right, in that there’s no one star who carried the team to a 103-point regular season and a stunning sweep of Sidney Crosby and Co.
But that doesn’t mean Barry Trotz’s team wouldn’t be able to function around a transcendent star, Islanders president and GM Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio. Any notion that the Islanders are better off because John Tavares chose to sign with his hometown Maple Leafs instead of re-upping with the Isles last summer is mistaken, he said.