Islanders give Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise extensions at NHL trade deadline
The previous couple of days had felt one thing like the tip for Cal Clutterbuck on Lengthy Island and with it, maybe the tip of an period.
Each press convention featured a solution on what the 34-year outdated meant to the group. Every part he did on the ice carried the load of the upcoming commerce deadline. When the Islanders insisted on Sunday that Clutterbuck and Andy Greene had been scratched in Philadelphia for upkeep, not asset administration, it felt just a little bit like everybody within the room was in on the joke.
However as 3 p.m. handed on Monday, the Islanders had been quiet. And because the clock hit 4 p.m., normal supervisor Lou Lamoriello introduced on a name with the media that Clutterbuck had signed a two-year extension, with Zach Parise signing a one-year deal. Clutterbuck’s shall be for $1.75 million common annual worth, whereas Parise will make $1.5 million, per The Put up’s Mollie Walker.
Each Clutterbuck and Parise stated issues got here collectively over the past week or so, with Parise saying he had mentioned a two-year deal final summer time, giving him confidence he’d be returning.
“This group is dwelling for me,” stated Clutterbuck, an Islander since 2013.
As a substitute of viewing the deadline as a vendor — a time period Lamoriello was certain to say that he hates — the Islanders wished to get higher by hockey trades, he stated. That speaks to the day’s overarching level: From administration on down, the Islanders nonetheless consider they’re a lot nearer to competition than their report signifies.
In observe, that meant maintaining Clutterbuck, in addition to goaltender Semyon Varlamov, bringing again Parise and working as if this yr’s struggles are extra a results of circumstance than a basic flaw within the roster.
“The gamers that now we have right here proper now and the core gamers that now we have and the people who find themselves not having an excellent yr, this may give them a chance to get again the place they suppose they need to be,” Lamoriello stated. “However so far as the followers that is with out query a sign to them that we consider within the group.”
That doesn’t imply the Islanders will essentially roll it again with the identical actual roster in 2022-23 — Lamoriello indicated he wasn’t pleased with the manufacturing from his ahead group, and will see the prudence in including a defenseman — nevertheless it does appear doubtless that the core will stay intact. Preserving Clutterbuck, specifically, is consultant of that.
“Truthfully, I owe loads to [Matt Martin] and Casey [Cizikas], who've been beside me for almost all of this time,” Clutterbuck stated. “Lengthy sufficient that I don’t actually have any vivid recollections of taking part in NHL hockey with out both of them or each of them.”
Lamoriello stated he didn’t view it as maintaining the Identification Line intact, however in observe, that’s what it was. Over the weekend, the Islanders spoke about sending a message to administration with their latest play — getting factors in six straight earlier than falling flat in a loss to the Flyers on Sunday. Their group is intently knit. Clutterbuck and the Identification Line are very a lot part of why.
“He means loads,” Cizikas stated Sunday. “He wears a letter for a motive. He’s a vocal man and guys hear when he speaks.”
This might all be a feel-good story, if not for the inconvenient fact of the Islanders’ report. Lamoriello is aware of that, even with what transpired away from the ice this season that harm the staff, and even with their play reaching one other degree not too long ago, this isn’t ok.
Because the deadline approached, Lamoriello stated, he regarded for hockey trades. Through the offseason, it looks like he’ll proceed to take action.
“We've got to see the place our core gamers are at and that no participant is solidified in something,” Lamoriello stated. “Actually now we have core gamers in our thoughts that we don’t converse to. … I don’t suppose we’re gonna get higher by simply including a participant. We’re gonna get higher by making hockey trades.”
With that in thoughts, contemplate the following 5 weeks one thing of an prolonged tryout.
“It seems that it was only a stand pat as a result of we’re glad,” Lamoriello stated. “We're actually not glad.
“I actually like the way in which our staff has performed over the past a number of video games. I believe that is additionally going to be a sign of precisely the place we’re at now that we’ve gotten [over] all of the turbulence that we went by — and I’m not on the lookout for any excuses in anyway — to see who we're as a staff and actually give us a sign of what now we have to do.”
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