Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello says change is coming this summer

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Lou Lamoriello understands the urgency for the Islanders to get “younger and better.” The Islanders president/general manager just did not believe that could be done properly prior to Friday’s NHL trade deadline without depleting what he feels is a team that is still a playoff contender.

He did insist, “there will be change this summer.”

“We know we have to do more than what just transpired,” Lamoriello said before the Islanders opened a three-game California swing against the Sharks on Saturday night at SAP Center. “We feel very strongly on that.”

Islanders principal owner Scott Malkin joined Lamoriello for Saturday’s game, though he declined to speak with the media.

Lamoriello traded Brock Nelson — who rejected the Islanders’ final contract extension offer believed to be for three seasons, $22.5 million — along with forward prospect William Dufour to the Avalanche late Thursday night for a healthy haul of a first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027, a conditional third-round pick in 2028, junior hockey forward Calum Ritchie, the 27th pick in 2023, and defenseman Oliver Kylington, who was immediately flipped to the Ducks for future considerations.

Otherwise, Lamoriello’s only other move was to send never-used defenseman Dennis Cholowski to the Devils for minor-league forward Adam Beckman.

“If we could have gotten younger and better other than draft picks, we would have done it without question,” Lamoriello said. “We felt where a few of our players are that we could have made moves with, they would be better done at a different time. What we need to sort of infuse in the lineup, those players would be available. Along the way, we tried to look at this season and to not give up in any way.”

Newsday reported there was interest around the NHL in captain Anders Lee and versatile center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, with the Hurricanes believed to have made a strong push for Pageau.

Lee said he was unaware of any trade discussions involving him.

“The filter must have been strong,” Lee said.

Lamoriello also has a surplus of defensemen with nine on the roster and could have looked to deal Scott Mayfield or Tony DeAngelo.

Lamoriello did confirm he is actively trying to re-sign pending unrestricted free agent Kyle Palmieri. The belief is the extension would be for either two or three seasons with an annual average value just slightly less than his current $5 million salary-cap hit.

“We would have liked to have kept Brock,” Lamoriello said. “I won’t apologize for that. You don’t have a center iceman like that and just lose a player like that. It’s hard to replace. We made an offer we felt was fair.

Lamoriello said acquiring Ritchie as part of the package for Nelson was important to the Islanders. He said Ritchie, 20, completing his final junior season in the Ontario Hockey League, will not have this season burned on his entry-level contract by joining the Islanders but will attend development camp and training camp in September.

Lamoriello also added he did not believe goalie Semyon Varlamov (lower body/long-term injured reserve) would play again this season and was not sure Mathew Barzal (lower body/LTIR) could return before the end of the regular season.”

Notes & quotes: Defenseman Scott Mayfield was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in six games with Adam Boqvist drawing back into the lineup . . . Forward Matt Martin (lower body) was activated off injured reserve in addition to defenseman Mike Reilly, who had been on long-term injured reserve with a heart condition . . . Goalie Marcus Hogberg (upper body), out since Jan. 25, remained on injured reserve but fully participated in the morning skate, his second straight practice with the team. Saturday started a stretch of three games in four nights with Ilya Sorokin starting for the 32nd time in 38 games so it’s possible Hogberg plays on this California trip. “[Hogberg] looked good in the practice,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We’ll see how it goes.”