Islanders’ push to re-sign John Tavares just got five times harder

DALLAS — This always seemed inevitable, but now that it’s clear John Tavares is going to meet with five teams during the free-agent courting period, which starts Sunday, the ground on which the Islanders stand is starting to shake just a little.

Tavares made his declaration about the meetings Saturday during the second round of the draft, and Islanders brass still remained optimistic that Tavares is going to re-sign before reaching unrestricted free agency on July 1. But president Lou Lamoriello also made it clear he respects the fact Tavares earned the right to see what’s out there.

“I have no disappointment, I have no discouragement,” Lamoriello said after rounds two-through-seven were completed at American Airlines Center. “I think he’s earned every right to make whatever choice he has. The most important thing is that we hope the decision is to be an Islander.”

It’s assumed that three of the teams are the Sharks, Blues and Maple Leafs, with some combination of the Golden Knights, Stars and Lightning possibly rounding things out. There are some attractive situations available to Tavares, who will turn 28 by the time the season starts and who will demand somewhere between $10 million and $12 million per season. The Islanders are the only team that can offer an eight-year deal, while the rest of the league can only offer seven.

But the Islanders are already quite a different franchise than the one he grew up in after being taken with the No. 1-overall selection in 2009. New principal owner Scott Malkin has delivered financial stability, and he hired the legendary Lamoriello on May 22 to run the whole hockey operation. Lamoriello’s first order of business two weeks later was to relieve general manager Garth Snow and coach Doug Weight of their duties, taking over the management role himself. He then made a slam-dunk hire with coach Barry Trotz, just days removed from winning the Stanley Cup as coach of the Capitals.

“There has been a commitment from ownership, Scott Malkin, that he wanted this franchise to be the best in the National Hockey League,” Lamoriello said. “He gave me the authority to go out and do whatever was necessary to do that. The first decision was to get a coach. In my opinion, we got one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League. Now what we have to do is certainly convince our player that this is the right situation for him. But he has to make that decision.”

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Tavares is following the same path that his childhood friend, Steven Stamkos, went down two years ago. Back then with the Maple Leafs, Lamoriello was on the other side, pitching Stamkos on coming to Toronto. After listening to all the pitches, Stamkos decided to stay with Tampa Bay and re-signed just before free agency opened on July 1.

Now, Lamoriello is hoping that same scenario works for him on the other side.

The work for Lamoriello isn’t just going to come in sweet talk, either. He already started restocking the prospect pipeline with what almost everyone evaluated as a terrific draft. Lamoriello added that he plans on being “as active as any other team” when free agency opens, and the roster needs some large-scale improvements — most notably at least one top-four defenseman and a legitimate No. 1 goalie.

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The Islanders were certainly in on Ilya Kovalchuk before he signed a bloated three-year deal with the Kings on Saturday ($6.25 million per) but there likely are some very good supplemental pieces to be had in trades — most notably, Blue Jackets sniper Artemi Panarin.

But for now, Tavares is going to see what else is out there and see if he likes it enough to leave the only NHL team he has ever known.

“I don’t look at it as a surprise,” Lamoriello said. “I respect that’s the decision he made, and he has the right to do that. And the most important thing is that at the end of this, hopefully he chooses to be an Islander.”