New York Islanders principal owner Scott Malkin and co-owners Jon Ledecky and John Collins made an aggressive move on Tuesday, pulling the plug on Lou Lamoriello’s tenure as president and general manager after seven years.
There was more sadness than shock around the league at the news — Lamoriello is 82, after all, so he wasn’t going to do this forever. But he’s still incredibly sharp, and he’s had a meaningful interaction with just about every current and recent GM in the league. There are at least 25 or so GMs who can tell the same story: They get their first GM job with an NHL team. Their phone rings. It’s Lamoriello, offering up a chance to have coffee or lunch to discuss his methods over the decades doing the job.
It can’t have been easy for Malkin, the principal decision-maker for the Islanders, to move on from Lamoriello. But it was wise to do it quickly and quietly — Lamoriello conducted exit meetings with Islanders players on Monday — because the Islanders have major business to conduct this offseason and they will get a head start on any other team in the league that might be searching for a new top executive or two.
Collins, who was the NHL’s chief operations officer and knows the league well, will spearhead the Isles’ search. It’s not likely to be quick, given how Islanders ownership has to proceed once they make their choice. Lamoriello’s Isles front office was quite small and he kept many of Garth Snow’s scouts and development staff in place, so the new president and GM will be conducting a thorough assessment of the organization while also trying to put a competitive roster on the ice.
The president and GM could also very well be two different people. Malkin and Co. inherited Snow, who held both titles; Malkin gave Lamoriello full control over hockey operations and essentially business operations as well, as Lamoriello had to approve any marketing involving Islanders players. The owners may prefer not to give total control to a combination president/GM once again and make this more of a collective front office.
A league source indicated weeks ago that Malkin, who lives in London, was committed to being more involved with business operation decisions and charting a new path forward to promote the Islanders’ brand. Now, Malkin, Ledecky and Collins will be charting a new path for the hockey team. It’s a huge moment for the franchise.
Here are 16 candidates of varying degrees of experience who could fit what the Islanders are looking for.
Pat Brisson
The super-agent who leads CAA and represents Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, John Tavares, Nathan MacKinnon, the Hughes brothers and about 100 other NHLers has been wooed before to leave the agent side and jump to the team side — most notably by Malkin eight years ago when the Islanders were doing everything they could to keep Tavares.
Brisson didn’t become the Islanders’ president of hockey operations then, and we know what happened with Tavares. But Malkin and Brisson have remained in contact and, with an opening at the top once more, Brisson might be more tempted now. Pretty sure this wouldn’t mean Tavares, a pending UFA in Toronto, would be making a return to the Island, but Brisson’s legion of clients could make the Islanders a more attractive free-agent destination than they’ve ever been.
Marc Bergevin
One of Brisson’s closest friends in hockey happens to be Bergevin, who has been an advisor for the Kings the last three seasons after a decade as Canadiens GM. Bergevin has been very visible around league arenas this season, perhaps in preparation for a return to a GM job. It makes some sense that Bergevin could do so with Brisson as his president and jump into a team in need of a steady, veteran hand to make the necessary moves and evaluations this offseason.
The Islanders wouldn’t have to wait long into the offseason to jump at Bergevin either, since he’s not under contract anywhere.
Jeff Gorton
If Malkin were to pick a veteran executive who’s performed every front-office role there is, the former Rangers GM and current Canadiens executive VP of hockey operations would be the top choice. It’s possible that Gorton, who is part of a tandem front office in Montreal with GM Kent Hughes, would like both titles, and only the Islanders could offer that at the moment.
The hold-up would be whether Canadiens owner Geoff Molson would allow Gorton to leave. Nothing’s assured on that front. But Gorton’s work with the Rangers and now Montreal, two teams he helped guide back to respectability after a few lean years, has been noticed.
Jarmo Kekäläinen
Like Bergevin, Kekäläinen is an experienced GM who is currently a free agent. Kekäläinen spent 11 years as the Blue Jackets’ GM, with some hits and plenty of misses, too. But his experience in a smaller-market team that didn’t always spend freely might be appealing to the Islanders, who are not looking to continue being a spendthrift cap team unless the situation warrants it.
George McPhee
If the goal is to hire a president first, Malkin may look to another familiar face. In Malkin and Ledecky’s first two seasons as minority partners with Charles Wang, they saw McPhee up close when he worked as an advisor to Snow between GM jobs with the Capitals and the expansion Golden Knights. They were impressed, by all accounts, and especially by McPhee’s stewardship in Vegas before moving upstairs to make room for first-time GM Kelly McCrimmon. McPhee’s 30-plus years in NHL front offices would allow the Islanders to go for interesting GM candidates who don’t have much experience.
Blues president of hockey operations and GM Doug Armstrong plans to step aside for Alexander Steen after next season. (Jeff Curry / USA Today)
Doug Armstrong
He’s been an NHL GM for over 20 years with the Stars and now the Blues, though he’s already planning to step aside for Alexander Steen after next season. Armstrong is a fiery leader and he’s aggressive. He’d also likely not be interested in splitting the president/GM jobs, so Malkin would have to turn over the keys to Armstrong to make this one work.
Brendan Shanahan
He’s currently employed by the Leafs as team president and, if Toronto manages to get past the second round for the first time since 2002, it’s unlikely Shanahan would be available. If he is, though, Shanahan has certainly been involved with a big franchise and has worked alongside Collins at the NHL.
He’s like McPhee, a veteran executive who could evaluate the front office while leaving the day-to-day GM work to another, younger person. He certainly got the league talking when he hired Kyle Dubas in Toronto to replace Lamoriello in 2017.
Ken Holland
One more for the team president file. Holland spent 22 years as GM of the Red Wings, winning three Stanley Cups, then five years with the Oilers before being let go there after last season. He’s 13 years younger than Lamoriello but has a similar resume; if he’s looking to oversee a front office rather than do all the jobs, he might have a chance here.
Ron Francis
Francis just got kicked upstairs in Seattle, where he’d been the inaugural GM after a long run in Carolina. The Kraken didn’t enjoy the same expansion success as McPhee’s Golden Knights, and Francis might not be content to do just one of the two jobs the Islanders have. It’s unlikely Malkin would turn the dual-role reins over to Francis, whose track record hasn’t been strong of late.
Kevin Weekes
The one-time Islanders goaltender and current analyst for ESPN has long wanted to break into the front-office side. He’d be an intriguing choice for team president; even with a lack of managerial experience, he knows everyone and has some clear ideas on how he’d operate. Paired with an experienced GM, he might be a fit.
Wayne Gretzky
When Malkin and Ledecky first took over the team in 2016, Ledecky talked to numerous hockey luminaries about how to proceed with the Islanders. Gretzky was one. Would The Great One be interested in becoming a team president? Would that really work? Who knows!
Neil Smith
He was an Islanders GM for a hot minute back before Snow, but the architect of the Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup might still be interested in working for a team after many years away. If you think you’ve seen him at an Islanders game recently, you have — he’s there just about every night working for UBS. Certainly has the experience part down and has run teams before, so a long-shot team president option.
Don Sweeney
He’s still the Bruins’ GM, but that might not impede finding a new spot, especially with the Bruins having undergone the kind of trade deadline sell-off in March that many Islanders fans wanted Lamoriello to commit to. Sweeney has had some ups and downs in a decade as Bruins GM — Islanders fans will surely recall his first draft, when he passed on Mat Barzal three straight picks — and if Malkin wants someone with very recent experience and familiarity with the NHL landscape, Sweeney has both.
Mathieu Darche
The Lightning executive pipeline is a deep one, starting with Steve Yzerman a decade ago and now on to Julien BriseBois. Darche is one of BriseBois’ top assistants and is starting to become a regular name on the “shouldn’t this guy be a GM soon?” rotation. He’ll get some interviews if there are openings this cycle.
Brandon Pridham
Another AGM who might be getting some interest when jobs open up. He’s worked for the Leafs for a decade through three different GMs. With an experienced president, he could be of interest.
Jason Spezza is currently an assistant general manager of the Penguins. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Jason Spezza
A buzzy first-time GM candidate, the former Senators star player rose through the ranks alongside Dubas in Toronto and now with the Penguins. He will surely be a GM in the coming years, it’s just a matter of where. If one of the big-name candidates for president pans out, the Islanders could take a chance on a first-time GM. Spezza is one of the more intriguing options there.
Vukie Mpofu
In the same way Shanahan plucked Dubas from relative obscurity to become first a Leafs AGM at 29 and then GM at 33, the 29-year-old Mpofu has future GM written all over him. Currently, he works for Dubas as the Penguins’ director of hockey operations and legal affairs. GM would be a huge leap, but an experienced team president could take a flier and have Mpofu grow into the job.
(Top photos of Marc Bergevin and Jarmo Kekäläinen: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images and Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)