New York Islanders 100% Vaccinated, Healthy Heading into Training Camp

The New York Islanders will not only enter training camp 100 percent healthy, but also 100 percent vaccinated.

Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello made the announcement on Tuesday during a conference call with reporters ahead of the start of training camp this week. The Hall-of-Fame hockey executive reported that everyone inside the Islanders organization had been vaccinated, including staff, coaches and players.

That included the players and staff of the Bridgeport Islanders except for one player who opted to not receive the vaccine. Lamoriello did not reveal who the player was, but said that the team was looking into assigning him to Europe.

“We will not allow any player in our organization to participate unless they’re vaccinated,” Lamoriello said. “We’re very conscious of what’s going on in the world. The Delta Variant now and where that’s at and we will be taking every possible precaution that we can to proact to keep our players, our staff, our coaches as healthy as we possibly can and their families.”

The New York Islanders are going beyond what other teams are doing to protect against COVID-19. Lamoriello said that the organization is still doing testing daily, which is not a requirement by the NHL.

“We’re just doing everything we possibly can within the rules to allow safety,” Lamoriello said.

The Islanders open training camp with physicals on Wednesday before the first day of on-ice activity takes place on Thursday. There will be plenty of familiar faces on the ice come day 1, with a large chunk of the roster returning this season.

Among them will be Anders Lee, who missed a large portion of the season last year with an ACL tear. Lee had been skating towards the end of last season and during the Islanders playoff run.

He will be ready for the start of the year, Lamoriello confirmed.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau underwent surgery during the offseason and was a “complete success” for the forward. Lamoriello also confirmed that he is good to fully practice with the team in camp and will be ready for the season.

Matt Martin underwent surgery of his own during the offseason to repair a chip in his ankle. Martin has already been skating and he too will be good to go once the season begins in October.