Islanders Looking for Some Payback for Tavares, Prepared to Poach Leafs' Mitch Marner

New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello is one of the few old-school executives still remaining in the game today and he still runs the ship like it.

The former Toronto Maple Leafs architect has been on Long Island since 2018-19, and his first year at the helm was marred by team captain John Tavares deciding to leave the Islanders for his beloved Maple Leafs.

The Islanders seemingly never forgot the decision made by Tavares and it was always believed that Lamoriello held that to his chest as the Islanders and Maple Leafs haven't been the most amicable trade partners since then.

Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson was recently added to the rumour mill with Lamoriello uneasy about extending his number one defenseman to a contract worth over $8 million dollars per season.

The Maple Leafs have previously been linked to the right-shot defenseman as well as the Islanders' other top trade target, Brock Nelson.

With a recent surge in the standings, it's hard to tell which path Lamoriello is going to pursue at the deadline, becoming a buyer or accepting his fate as a seller. But, he reportedly has his eyes set on the off-season and potentially poaching Mitch Marner in free agency.

Anthony LaRocco of The Hockey News mentioned earlier today that Dobson's camp will be looking for an AAV upwards of $8 million and while Lamoriello is a little uneasy on the number, he's not necessarily shopping him unless he gets exactly what he wants.

LaRocco then added that if Dobson can't get the Isles the return they want, Lamoriello will look to extend Dobson and then make a big run at Marner during the off-season with the salary cap rising to $95.5 million dollars.

Alongside Dobson and Nelson, the Islanders have players like Kyle Palmieri, Matt Martin, and Alex Romanov coming off the books. Romanov will be an RFA just like Dobson, but the Islanders are looking for more impactful and younger forwards instead of re-signing the likes of Palmieri.

With a Dobson extension likely to happen, the Islanders will have more than enough cap space to work out a deal for Marner and considering his asking price, Lamoriello could look to stick it to his former club by out-bidding the Leafs for Marner's services.

Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, they also have a lot of cap space to work with, but have some pretty important names expiring, like Tavares and Matthew Knies, alongside Marner.

Nevertheless, look for Toronto to remain aggressive in extending Marner, but don't count out Lamoriello and the Islanders should the star winger walk into free agency on the 1st of July. The Isles have not forgotten about the Tavares debacle and would love to return the favour.