Lou could take hunt to former haunts

Islanders’ coaching search could go through Toronto, New Jersey

Now that president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello has relieved general manager Garth Snow and coach Doug Weight of their duties and named himself GM, observers are scanning his former organizations for possible head coaching candidates. That includes Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe and Leafs assistant D.J. Smith, and former Devils players or coaches John Madden, Scott Stevens and Brent Sutter. Here’s one man’s list:

Sheldon Keefe: The 37-yearold former NHLer, in his third season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies is considered a hot prospect among minor-league coaches and has his team in the Calder Cup final.

John Madden: The 45-yearold won two Stanley Cups with Lamoriello’s Devils and his unselfish, scrappy play fit the Lamoriello mold very well. He’s coached the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets’ top affiliate, the past two seasons and was previously a Florida Panthers assistant coach.

Scott Stevens: The former defenceman, now 54, captained the Devils to three Stanley Cups and served both as a Devils assistant and tri-coach along with Lamoriello and Adam Oates in 2014-15. He was a Minnesota Wild assistant in 2016-17 before returning to the New Jersey area for family reasons but is still believed to be interested in coaching. Brent Sutter: The former Islanders captain, 55, hasn’t coached in the NHL since leaving the Calgary Flames in 2012 and is currently a junior hockey GM/coach. But he coached the Devils for two seasons under Lamoriello and the Sutter brothers have always been popular on Long Island. Barry Trotz: The Capitals, up 3-1 in the Stanley Cup final heading into Thursday, wouldn’t really let a Cup-winning coach go, would they? Well, the speculation all season in Washington was this would be Trotz’s last season behind the Caps’ bench regardless of the results in order to make room for highly regarded assistant Todd Reirden. If the 55year-old Trotz, an NHL head coach since 1988, is available, it might certainly intrigue Lamoriello. D.J. Smith: The Leafs’ highly regarded assistant coach under Mike Babcock, Smith, 41, earned the most votes in an NHL Players Association poll asking which current assistant should be a head coach.