The New York Islanders have moved on from general manager Lou Lamoriello. They are not renewing his contract after a miserable season saw them fall short of the playoffs. Minority owner John Collins will decide the next general manager, using his history as the COO of the NHL and President of the Cleveland Browns to make the decision. Could Patrick Roy make the move upstairs? Or will the Islanders make history with their hire?
When a team fires its general manager, you would usually highlight its minor league general manager as a candidate for a promotion. The Bridgeport Islanders have been led by Chris Lamoriello, Lou’s son, since 2018. This year, they set an AHL record with only four home wins all season long. Lamoriello does not have a track record as an AHL GM and cannot be the NHL boss.
So, who will the Islanders hire as their next general manager? They must nail this hire to untangle the web Lamoriello has created.
Could Patrick Roy make the move upstairs?
The Islanders hired Patrick Roy as their head coach in January 2024. He is 55-47-17 since coming to Long Island, leading the team to the playoffs last season. Before he was in New York, Roy was the head coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. He even owned part of the team after his playing career. Roy has an outside chance of being the Islanders’ general manager.
Roy only brought one assistant coach with him to New York, Benoit Desrosiers. The rest of the staff were holdovers from Lane Lambert’s staff. If Roy is the general manager and not the coach simultaneously, Desrosiers would be a leading candidate for the head coaching job, and Roy would get to assemble the staff he’s wanted to.
Roy made it clear that he did not agree with many of Lamoriello’s roster decisions throughout the year. Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom were both placed on waivers during the season, and Scott Mayfield was a routine healthy scratch. This would be his chance to build an NHL team in his vision.
The Islanders make history with a Hall of Famer
The Granatos are one of the great American hockey families. Tony was a 13-year NHL vet before spending three years behind the bench in Colorado and seven at the University of Wisconsin. Don was the Sabres’ head coach for four seasons in the 2020s. And their sister Cammi is the one who is in the Hall of Fame for her incredible career with Team USA. She could also become the first female general manager in NHL history.
Granato is the assistant general manager with the Vancouver Canucks since February 2022. She spent time before that as a scout for the Seattle Kraken. She has learned the ins and outs of an NHL franchise under Jim Rutherford in Vancouver and has the eye for talent as one of the great American players of the 21st century.
Granato will be an NHL GM one day if she wants to be. Her pedigree as a player speaks for itself, and she is already learning under one of the most respected GMs in the game. The Islanders can make their splash and bring in a Hall of Famer to run their squad.
Poaching a high-ranking Lightning front office member
It is common practice in the NFL for assistant general managers with one team to be poached for the big chair with another team. That is not always the case in the NHL, but the Islanders could do that with Lightning assistant GM and director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche. He has been with the Bolts since 2019 and could finally get his chance this offseason.
The Lightning have succeeded because of the NHL draft, picking the players that led to their three straight conference titles. As mentioned before, the Islanders had one of the worst AHL teams in league history last year. Hitting on draft picks outside the first round is key to rebuilding quickly. Bringing in someone from the Lightning to do that would be a smart move for Islanders ownership.
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