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Lou Lamoriello winning on the Island with a familiar formula: goaltending and fiscal responsibility

If there’s a magic elixir with that has made the New York Islanders so good since Lou Lamoriello took over, it’s quality goaltending and salary cap balance.

There’s more to it of course. Lamoriello, the Islanders’ president and general manager, hired a great coach in Barry Trotz and inherited a roster that had good young talent and a conservative salary structure.

But Lamoriello’s trademark is goaltending. When he was in New Jersey, Martin Brodeur led the Devils to three Stanley Cups, playing 70-plus games a season in some cases. In Toronto, Lamoriello’s landmark trade brought Frederik Andersen to the Leafs, and Andersen shoulders 60-plus games a season.

The recipe is different with the Islanders. Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss shared the load last season, and the pair won the William Jennings Trophy as the tandem that allowed the fewest goals against. Lehner signed with Chicago as a free agent, and Lamoriello calmly signed Semyon Varlamov to join Greiss.

“In my opinion, you do need two goalies in this era, because of the way the schedule is,” Lamoriello said. “We play so many games, and so many games are back to back. It’s not like years ago when you did have quite a bit of rest.”

So far this year, the Islanders tandem has again been terrific. Greiss is 7-1-0, with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. Varlamov is 5-2-1, 2.34, .924. The Islanders, with 25 points in 16 games, went into Tuesday tied for second in the Eastern Conference.

As Trotz said this week: “I can close my eyes and reach into a hat and pick the number. I don’t think I can make a bad choice … Not a lot of teams can say that, and that’s a strength of the Islanders.”

The Leafs play there Wednesday with Frederik Andersen in net and Kasimir Kaskisuo, up from the Marlies, as the backup. The Leafs are struggling to find a second goaltender they can count on and Andersen may have to continue to carry a load like Brodeur did.

Brodeur wasn’t the only goalie in the 70-plus club. Miikka Kiprusoff played that many a number of times. Cam Talbot, then with the Edmonton Oilers, was the last to hit that mark, 73, in 2016-17.

“There a few throughout hockey history that played that number of games,” Lamoriello said. “You went to bed the night before knowing who your goalie was all the time and you knew what you’re going to get. But that day is gone because of the schedule, because of the demands of the travel. And also because of the way the game is played. The game is a lot quicker. There’s a lot more speed involved.

“There’s a lot more transition. There was a lot more tightness (in Brodeur’s era) as far as the way the game was played. Now there’s a lot more pressure on the goalie today than before.”

Lamoriello also has a salary structure that allows the Islanders freedom to move players in and out if need be. Much of that was in place before Lamoriello got there, but salary sternness is also his forte. Captain Anders Lee signed a seven-year, $49-million (U.S.) deal in the off-season. Jordan Eberle took a pay cut to sign a five-year, $27.5-million deal. That’s a cap hit of $5.5 million; he had earned $6 million a year. Sniper Mathew Barzal may challenge the salary structure, heading for restricted free agency in the summer.

But the Islanders are a team that embraces the middle-class player, with 18 players earning at least $1 million. The top-heavy Leafs, by comparison, have only 11 earning at least that much, with a roster filled out by players earning the minimum, or close to it.

“In this day and age, you have to be very careful because of the salary cap and certainly not knowing what the future is going to be with the cap,” said Lamoriello. “You have to be very cautious on how you approach it. We did sign our players who were free agents, which we were pleased to do. I would like to think that we’re fairly balanced.”

Lamoriello bodes no ill will toward Toronto, or the Leafs organization. He was replaced by Kyle Dubas after the 2017-18 season.

“I certainly communicate with Kyle like you do with any other general manager,” he said. “I had an outstanding relationship with him while I was there, and always will have.”

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John Tavares feels the same way about the Islanders, even though the fan base there now boos their former captain. This time, he’ll return as captain of the Leafs.

“The place will always have great meaning for me, had a huge impact on my career and my life,” Tavares said. “It is what it is … just go down there and try to get our team two points.”

Kevin McGran

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