No matter how you spin it, Lou Lamoriello failed at the only real goal for this offseason: sign all 3 RFAs to maintain the core of this Islanders team.
He traded Devon Toews to the Colorado Avalanche for two second round picks, in 2021 and 2022, after Toews filed for arbitration. That decision opened up the possibility that a contract award would be too high and would walk Toews right to UFA status, and that played a big part in trading a player that Lou didn’t want to trade. However, it never gets to that point with better salary cap management.