Islanders News: The day between the draft and FA

Old friends.The draft is over and free agency begins tomorrow. That means today is Tampering Day. Lou Lamoriello, famously, does not pick up the phone until noon on July 1. However, my hunch is that he’s good at back-channel information gathering—I don’t think he trades for Bo Horvat if he doesn’t have an idea that Horvat would sign, for example.

Typically, we don’t hear much about the tampering that New York Islanders do or don’t do. But Lamoriello spoke to the media yesterday after the draft ended and shared more than usual. Of note, Doug Houda is out as an assistant coach, so hopefully, the defense and penalty kill improve. Lou said Houda’s replacement will be announced soon. Also, he…