LOU THE MAN FOR ISLES
LAMORIELLO WILL RUN HOCKEY OPS
No longer are these Islanders sitting around hoping for something good to happen.
Instead, co-owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky have instituted their first big shake-up by agreeing in principle Monday to hire the legendary Lou Lamoriello to head all hockey operations, according to a source. The news was first reported by The Athletic.
The one question that does leave is the future of current general manager Garth Snow, who has had a tumultuous 12-year run as team president and GM that included just four postseason appearances and one series victory. With the announcement set to come Tuesday, it is unclear just exactly where Snow is going to fit into the picture — if he fits at all.
Snow did hire Lamoriello’s son, Chris, to be an assistant GM in August 2016. It is known that Snow and the elder Lamoriello are friendly, and Snow has tried to institute buttoned-up policies similar to those favored by the former Devils boss but with very different results.
At some point over the past week or so, the Islanders had to have asked the Maple Leafs for permission to speak to Lamoriello, who was supposed to segue into the role of adviser in Toronto after spending the previous three years as GM, turning a struggling young team into what looks to be a perennial contender. Yet the 75-year-old never seemed destined to just fade away into the sunset, instead now picking another opportunity to turn a franchise around and then likely hand the keys to his son.
The same situation happened at the end of his tenure with the Devils, where they won three Stanley Cups in 1995, 2000 and 2003. In 2015, Lamoriello hired Ray Shero to be his successor as GM, and lasted only one season as a consultant before leaving for the challenge in Toronto.
The first order of business for Lamoriello will be to try to sign captain John Tavares, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Lamoriello reportedly met with Tavares recently, and that is surely a good thing for those who hope Tavares decides to stay. Tavares, who will turn 28 in September, seemed destined to at least reach the June 25-30 freeagent courting period. But if Tavares liked what Lamoriello had to say, he might be inclined to sign sooner.
Either way, at least the organization now knows who is going to be in charge at the draft on June 22. With two picks in each of the first two rounds and a handful of needs on the current roster, the draft is a crucial time for the Islanders if they want to revamp and stay competitive in the Metropolitan Division.
Lamoriello will also have to decide the future of second-year coach Doug Weight, who was impressive in his first half year when he took over for the fired Jack Capuano, but who struggled to keep his young team on track this past season, the second straight campaign that ended without a playoff berth.
It wasn’t lost on ownership and the fan base that this past week was the anniversary of the Islanders winning their fourth straight Stanley Cup in 1983, a harsh reminder the franchise has strug- gled to regain that prestige. A first-round series victory over the Panthers in 2016 remains the Islanders’ only series victory since 1993.
Malkin and Ledecky have already secured the rights to build a new arena at Belmont Park, and although they continue to go through the red tape, they are still on schedule to play there starting in 2021-22. The next two seasons are going to be split between Brooklyn’s Barclays Center — which has been an unmitigated disaster since they moved in for the 2015-16 season — and the newly renovated Coliseum, which is woefully small for NHL games. Where the team will play in 2020-21 is still to be determined.
But how they’re going to get there is now known, and it’s in the hands of a Hall of Famer. No longer are the Islanders just sitting on their hands and hoping.