The New York Islanders have been on the trail of a new hockey operations leader (or two) for just under two weeks now, having informed Lou Lamoriello on April 22 that his contract would not be renewed after seven seasons as president and general manager.
The initial pose from Islanders ownership — controlling partner John Collins, who was leading the search, along with majority owner Scott Malkin and co-owner Jon Ledecky — seemed to be that this would be a wide-ranging search that included some people with many years of GM experience and others who had no such experience.
After 13 days, it appears that the Isles’ ownership group has targeted a shorter timeline on finding a new leader. The urgency of putting a new boss in place — whether that’s a president of hockey operations, a GM or someone who could fill both roles — to begin the process of evaluating the current Islanders hockey ops structure and sorting out the coaching staff and the roster seems to have taken root and turned this into a faster search than initially believed.
Here’s a few tidbits on what I’ve heard so far from a variety of league sources as the Islanders go through their interviews:
• If the Islanders are going the president-first, GM-later process, the list of candidates is pretty short. As I wrote two weeks ago, Vegas Golden Knights president George McPhee is not in the running here. Jeff Gorton, the top hockey ops exec for the Montreal Canadiens, also does not appear to be in the mix at the moment, though that may have more to do with the Habs just wrapping up their playoff run. Same for Ron Francis, who was just kicked upstairs by the Seattle Kraken and might be open to a change of scenery.
Beyond those three, it’s Ken Holland or a list of less-experienced people who would need a veteran GM under them. That doesn’t exactly scream out a pressing need to name a POHOP right away, but Collins, Malkin and Ledecky have been going through this process intensely for the last two weeks (and, let’s be real here, likely before that, even though Lamoriello was on the job) so perhaps they’ve learned enough to jump at an opportunity now.
• The Kings parted company with GM Rob Blake on Monday, and that may factor into the Islanders’ search. Marc Bergevin is a person of definite interest for the Islanders, and they have already talked more than once, according to a league source. But Bergevin currently serves as a senior adviser for L.A. and could be Kings president Luc Robitaille’s top choice to succeed Blake.
The Islanders have talked to former Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who’s now with L.A. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
• This timeline also seems to lessen the chances that a fresher face — either a younger assistant GM or someone outside the current NHL team structure — would have a shot. That’s how it seemed when the process began, and it seems more true now, even though no one’s been hired yet.
I got the same answer from four different executives with other teams: This Islanders gig is an enormous job, essentially building a front office from near scratch while also trying to maneuver a roster that’s been stagnant for four seasons. “A huge amount of work to do there,” as one Western Conference AGM put it.
Malkin and Ledecky have owned this team outright for nine seasons and been around the Islanders for a decade. They know what they inherited from Charles Wang in terms of staffing, and they know how tight Lamoriello kept things. Collins has worked in the league a long time, too. All three of them see how other teams operate and how much more sprawling front offices are than theirs. That doesn’t translate automatically to success, but when a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs has dozens more front office staff — even the New Jersey Devils have dozens more — you know you’re starting this search at a deficit.
The size of the job might turn off some potential hires. This is not a quick-fix turnaround, and most everyone from former GMs to current AGMs to those not currently on the team side — like ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes or TNT analyst Eddie Olczyk — knows it. This will take some know-how on the best ways to staff up as well as the best ways to put the roster into decent shape.
So if there’s an announcement soon, we will all understand that ownership realized its predicament here and decided it was not the best time to go off the board on a hire. Bergevin, Holland, Jarmo Kekäläinen, Peter Chiarelli — those are the names you might hear in an announcement sooner than later because they are experienced GMs who can hit the ground running.
• I’m not sold that Patrick Roy and his staff will be gone when a new front office takes shape. Assistant coaches John MacLean and Tommy Albelin are known as longtime Lamoriello guys — Roy was head coach when Albelin was hired, but that doesn’t mean he was Roy’s choice. So I could see a scenario where Roy, who has at least two years left on his contract after signing an extension following the 2023-24 season, gets another crack at this under a new GM and perhaps with a new assistant or two on board.
There’s also the time factor. A new president/GM in the next week or two means a coaching search is even further beyond that by a week or two. By then, many of the numerous coaching vacancies around the league will likely be filled, leaving a very thin crop of candidates for the Islanders to choose from. Unless a new executive had a coach in mind, seeing what Roy can do to start 2025-26 might be the wisest course of action.
• That does not go for Bridgeport, which will need a serious overhaul as well. Rick Kowalsky is a Lamoriello guy too, and after a historically bad season in which the Baby Islanders won an AHL-record-low four home games, the new Isles executives will be making changes to the AHL team.
I wonder if even the team’s name is under consideration for change. The decision to go from Sound Tigers, which was the Bridgeport nickname from its inception in 2001 until 2021, to Islanders was not Lamoriello’s alone. Malkin approved the change. But the Sound Tigers had a strong identity in Connecticut, which is Bruins/Rangers country when it comes to NHL fandom. The Islanders need their brand to grow, too, but we will see if Bridgeport gets its independent nickname back in this period of full-organization evaluation.
(Top photo of Patrick Roy: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)