from Andrew Gross of Newsday,

Barry Trotz spoke an NHL truth when he noted the devastated group of players in the dressing room following the Islanders’ 1-0 loss to the Lightning in Friday night’s Game 7 of their semifinal series at Amalie Arena will not be the group that opens training camp in September.

Annual change is a part of life in the NHL, particularly under a hard salary cap. And very particularly true under a flat, $81.5 million salary cap that is a lingering effect of the COVID-19-induced financial ruin the league suffered without fans in the arenas for a good portion of this season.

So, the offseason question becomes, how many players depart and how radical is the roster reshaping? Remember, this is a franchise that has had the same core group of players pre-dating the Lou Lamoriello/Trotz era, even with John Tavares departing for the Maple Leafs via free agency in 2018.

"It’s just a lot of pain because they gave it their all," Trotz said after the Islanders were eliminated by the Lightning one round short of their first Stanley Cup Final berth since 1984 for the second straight season. "There’s some guys that are playing that are beat up, worn out, hurt and they just keep going. There’s a bond between all the players that is really strong.

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