New York Islanders: Lamoriello Contract Not Renewed; John Collins Searching for Next GM

I really think ownership is going to f*** this up. I read the list of candidates they have either talked to or reached out. I hate most of them.
 
I really think ownership is going to f*** this up. I read the list of candidates they have either talked to or reached out. I hate most of them.

I don't like most of the names either, but can you name 3 people for President and 3 names at GM that you'd be happy with/excited about?

Actually "f***ing this up" would have been to keep Lou, so going to give Malkin credit for doing what needed to be done at a base level. Sure he/Collins could get this so wrong at president/GM, but for now going to give the guy who got rid of snow, got a 1st class arena built, and has been running the franchise better than any other previous Isles owner by far the benefit of the doubt.

Also remember this...Malkin was a first time NHL owner when he took over about 7 years ago. When he did he had zero experience and sounds like Bettman/the NHL connected him with Lou. Since Lou was basically out of Toronto with Dubas/Shanahan there and Malkin needed a franchise-stabilizing executive, sure sounds like it was a marriage of convenience that served it's purpose at the time.

Since then Malkin was smart and shrewd enough to land John Collins, who is well revered in NHL circles. Now sounds like they're going to be adding MULTIPLE front office executives which is the smart way to do things. So instead of just having one "hockey dictator" who didn't have to discuss any trade or signing with a single other human, you're probably going to have a President of Hockey Operations, a General Manager, and at least one assistant GM.

Given how Malkin has conducted himself and how this team is run, I refuse to believe there won't be adults in the room to have a more measured/balanced/intelligent/multilateral process to decision-making.

I don't want Jarmo or Bergevin any more than you do, but Lou was so beyond DOA (both the decisions he made and the fact he didn't have to discuss them with anyone) that I would actually take my chances on them rather than Lou still be here. This is much the same way I was prepared to take on any new owner as opposed to keeping Wang around.

Also remember years ago when you saw Ledecky out in public on a weekly basis? I'm sure Lou reeled that in, but back when you heard from him, he did mostly say all the right things including...

“I’d like to see our progress continue. I think the team has the ability to do that. There should be standards by which teams are measured, and that should be winning the Stanley Cup.”

“When we win the 5th Stanley Cup, all season ticket holders will and should get a ring,” Ledecky promised.


I refuse to believe the decision-maker, Malkin, would let Ledecky parade around with these grandiose claims unless he was prepared to back it up. They may not have gotten all decisions right, but they are trying...And they are spending money.

Malkin/Ledecky have really only made one big mistake so far....And it was hiring Lou. Given that they were rookie owners and now have taken action to fix that mistake, I'm going to give them leeway to get. it right now.

I'm very confident that the front office/standards around here are going to improve...I just hope they are "Cup level" improvements. 🤞
 
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I don't like most of the names either, but can you name 3 people for President and 3 names at GM that you'd be happy with/excited about?

Actually "f***ing this up" would have been to keep Lou, so going to give Malkin credit for doing what needed to be done at a base level. Sure he/Collins could get this so wrong at president/GM, but for now going to give the guy who got rid of snow, got a 1st class arena built, and has been running the franchise better than any other previous Isles owner by far the benefit of the doubt.

Also remember this...Malkin was a first time NHL owner when he took over about 7 years ago. When he did he had zero experience and sounds like Bettman/the NHL connected him with Lou. Since Lou was basically out of Toronto with Dubas/Shanahan there and Malkin needed a franchise-stabilizing executive, sure sounds like it was a marriage of convenience that served it's purpose at the time.

Since then Malkin was smart and shrewd enough to lank John Collins, who is well revered in NHL circles. Now sounds like they're going to be adding MULTIPLE front office executives which is the smart way to do things. So instead of just having one "hockey dictator" who didn't have to discuss any trade or signing with a single other human, you're going to have a President of Hockey Operations, a General Manager, and at least one assistant GM.

Given how Malkin has conducted himself and how this team is run, I refuse to believe there won't be adults in the room to have a more measured/balanced/intelligent/multilateral process to decision-making.

I don't want Jarmo or Bergevin any more than you do, but Lou was so beyond DOA (both the decisions he made and the fact he didn't have to discuss them with anyone) that I would actually take my chances on them rather than Lou still be here. This is much the same way I was prepared to take on any new owner as opposed to keeping Wang around.

Also remember years ago when you saw Ledecky out in public on a weekly basis? I'm sure Lou reeled that in, but back when you heard from him, he did mostly say all the right things including...

“I’d like to see our progress continue. I think the team has the ability to do that. There should be standards by which teams are measured, and that should be winning the Stanley Cup.”

“When we win the 5th Stanley Cup, all season ticket holders will and should get a ring,” Ledecky promised.


I refuse to believe the decision-maker, Malkin, would let Ledecky parade around with these grandiose claims unless he was prepared to back it up. They may not have gotten all decisions right, but they are trying...And they are spending money.

Malkin/Ledecky have really only made one big mistake so far....And it was hiring Lou. Given that they were rookie owners and now have taken action to fix that mistake, I'm going to give them leeway to get. it right now.

I'm very confident that the front office/standards around here are going to improve...I just hope they are "Cup level" improvements. 🤞
Hey Perieral, I'm not good at this, I wasn't really thinking about a President of Hockey Ops when this all went down. We were all just throwing out GM names. But if I have to put together an entire front office. I'll give it a shot

Personally, I would give would Scot White both GM/Hockey Ops But if that's not an option, here goes:

President of Hockey Ops

Scott White (Dallas) - Currently Asst GM/GM of AHL team

GM
Mathieu Darche (TB) - Currently Asst GM

Asst GM
Peter Harrold (Carolina) - Currently Director of Player Development

Director of Personnel Scouting
Craig Boner (Dallas) - Currently Head Professional Scout

Coach
I'll leave that up to the GM - But don't want ROY! or any retreads. Need a new up and coming coach with new and fresh ideas and coaching methods
 
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Hey Perieral, I'm not good at this, I wasn't really thinking about a President of Hockey Ops when this all went down. We were all just throwing out GM names. But if I have to put together an entire front office. I'll give it a shot

Personally, I would give would Scot White both GM/Hockey Ops But if that's not an option, here goes:

President of Hockey Ops

Scott White (Dallas) - Currently Asst GM/GM of AHL team

GM
Mathieu Darche (TB) - Currently Asst GM

Asst GM
Peter Harrold (Carolina) - Currently Director of Player Development

Director of Personnel Scouting
Craig Boner (Dallas) - Currently Head Professional Scout

Coach
I'll leave that up to the GM - But don't want ROY! or any retreads. Need a new up and coming coach with new and fresh ideas and coaching methods
I love Dallas executives and hockey ops.
 
Darche seems to be

I'm not trying to defend Bergevin, but you do have to wonder if the MTL ownership group gave him full control or if they were meddling. If they were putting pressure on him to "win now", that might add some context to his time as GM there. Just another in the long list of "we don't knows" in this process.
I believe that ownership pressured Bergevin in the Subban negotiations. Bergevin was holding at a certain number but fan pressure to get him signed had Molson jump in
 

Gorton is really interesting. Botta all of a sudden is saying an announcement may come sooner than later, not long after MTL is eliminated? A big part of me thinks he won't leave MTL, but if he's hired to be POHO/GM to start, he might like running the whole show. That would allow them to have a Hickey or Martin in the organization in a learning role and possibly become GM down the line if Gorton steps up to be solely POHO. Also, MTL/Gorton apparently asked permission of ANA to speak with their AGM Martin Madden but were denied.

This makes me think Gorton may actually leave MTL after all (from an article talking about the press conference announcing Gorton as POHO in MTL) if he gets a position with more authority:

"Molson said that Gorton and the new general manager will work together, but that Gorton, who is a unilingual Bostonian, will basically serve as an éminence grise and the new GM will make any final decisions. The new GM, who will be a francophone, will probably be less experienced than Gorton. It’s akin to having a doctor and an intern consult on a case and letting the intern make a life-saving decision."

BTW, from that same article:

"Names in the mix include prodigal son Patrick Roy (highly unlikely because he doesn’t play well with others), Tampa Bay director of player personnel Mathieu Darche and Martin Madden Jr., who is an assistant general manager in Anaheim."

Read more at: https://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/hockey-inside-out/article177250.html#storylink=cpy
 
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Molson is not letting Gorton leave, he wouldn’t give CBJ permission to talk to him last year, so why would he this year to another team? And Gorton already is already in charge of Hockey Ops. with the Canadiens.
 
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Hey Perieral, I'm not good at this, I wasn't really thinking about a President of Hockey Ops when this all went down. We were all just throwing out GM names. But if I have to put together an entire front office. I'll give it a shot

Personally, I would give would Scot White both GM/Hockey Ops But if that's not an option, here goes:

President of Hockey Ops

Scott White (Dallas) - Currently Asst GM/GM of AHL team

GM
Mathieu Darche (TB) - Currently Asst GM

Asst GM
Peter Harrold (Carolina) - Currently Director of Player Development

Director of Personnel Scouting
Craig Boner (Dallas) - Currently Head Professional Scout

Coach
I'll leave that up to the GM - But don't want ROY! or any retreads. Need a new up and coming coach with new and fresh ideas and coaching methods

Total respect for you putting this together. Honestly what do we know, but was not impressed with Scott While in interviews. I think about him addressing Isles fans/media and doesn't seem like a guy who totally gets it/would be ok having totaly control of a franchise. I think "assistant" is his ceiling.

Darche I am much more ok with.

Harrold seems like a really cool guy. Not sure if he's future GM material, but as assistant GM role I'd be ok with.

Bonner I know nothing about.

And yes head coach I'll leave up to the GM, but I'm of the belief that Roy should definitely be gone as we should be starting fresh across the board - Not to mention that I was not too impressed with Roy over the past year.
 
Gorton is really interesting. Botta all of a sudden is saying an announcement may come sooner than later, not long after MTL is eliminated? A big part of me thinks he won't leave MTL, but if he's hired to be POHO/GM to start, he might like running the whole show. That would allow them to have a Hickey or Martin in the organization in a learning role and possibly become GM down the line if Gorton steps up to be solely POHO. Also, MTL/Gorton apparently asked permission of ANA to speak with their AGM Martin Madden but were denied.

This makes me think Gorton may actually leave MTL after all (from an article talking about the press conference announcing Gorton as POHO in MTL) if he gets a position with more authority:

"Molson said that Gorton and the new general manager will work together, but that Gorton, who is a unilingual Bostonian, will basically serve as an éminence grise and the new GM will make any final decisions. The new GM, who will be a francophone, will probably be less experienced than Gorton. It’s akin to having a doctor and an intern consult on a case and letting the intern make a life-saving decision."

BTW, from that same article:

"Names in the mix include prodigal son Patrick Roy (highly unlikely because he doesn’t play well with others), Tampa Bay director of player personnel Mathieu Darche and Martin Madden Jr., who is an assistant general manager in Anaheim."

Read more at: https://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/hockey-inside-out/article177250.html#storylink=cpy

Maybe the reason for the bolded is that Collins/the Isles really wanted Gorton as their #1 choice and once they could speak with him the Canadiens said they won't let him interview/leave, and/or he doesn't want to come here. If that was the case then maybe their #2 choice is ready to be hired and could now move forward with him now that Gorton/the Habs declined.

I would pay a lot of money to just be able to listen to all the conversations going on between Collins/Malkin and everyone. I'm sure it would be crazy to hear some of the ideas interviewees have for their vision of the Isles.
 
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Maybe the reason for the bolded is that Collins/the Isles really wanted Gorton as their #1 choice and once they could speak with him the Canadiens said they won't let him interview/leave, and/or he doesn't want to come here. If that was the case then maybe their #2 choice is ready to be hired and could now move forward with him now that Gorton/the Habs declined.

I would pay a lot of money to just be able to listen to all the conversations going on between Collins/Malkin and everyone. I'm sure it would be crazy to hear some of the ideas interviewees have for their vision of the Isles.
There are so many names - we definitely don't know anything really. Ross Mahoney with WAS is 68 and is AGM - he's been involved in all aspects though and might be a good POHO. And Martin Madden with ANA seems to be really smart - has an engineering degree and an MBA and has done pretty much everything with ANA. I like that they're player personnel guys but also have management experience along with analytics work.
 
There are so many names - we definitely don't know anything really. Ross Mahoney with WAS is 68 and is AGM - he's been involved in all aspects though and might be a good POHO. And Martin Madden with ANA seems to be really smart - has an engineering degree and an MBA and has done pretty much everything with ANA. I like that they're player personnel guys but also have management experience along with analytics work.

For multiple reasons I really don't want an older president (and definitely not GM).
 
For multiple reasons I really don't want an older president (and definitely not GM).
Yeah, 68 is pushing it, but you also kind of want the top guy to have a ton of experience otherwise what's the point? He could be in the role for 2-3 years to build the organization and then step down. We'll see.

An alternative is having a dual role POHO/GM and then a huge advisory staff, like what FLA has with Zito.
 
Yeah, 68 is pushing it, but you also kind of want the top guy to have a ton of experience otherwise what's the point? He could be in the role for 2-3 years to build the organization and then step down. We'll see.

An alternative is having a dual role POHO/GM and then a huge advisory staff, like what FLA has with Zito.

I don't need the next President/GM to have a "ton of experience." I just want the best guy(s) for each role. The best candidates will be very intelligent, and if we assemble a great front office mixed with youth to be here a long time and older/more experience, they can all lean on each other to form a consensus - So anyone a bit less experienced will both get up to speed soon, but also know they have colleagues they can lean on.

Hire intelligent and very sharp people, and things will work out.
 
How’s that working out for Colorado? Allegedly, McFarland was highly sought after this Saiic went upstairs to keep him and make him GM. He’s won one playoff round in three seasons and created a mess of a team.

I mean Vegas wins a Cup with Hill, then gives him 2 years. COL acquires Blackwood, he goes on a hot streak, so McFarland gives him a 5 year deal only to watch him implode in the playoffs. That’s pretty Lou-like.
 
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I don't need the next President/GM to have a "ton of experience." I just want the best guy(s) for each role. The best candidates will be very intelligent, and if we assemble a great front office mixed with youth to be here a long time and older/more experience, they can all lean on each other to form a consensus - So anyone a bit less experienced will both get up to speed soon, but also know they have colleagues they can lean on.

Hire intelligent and very sharp people, and things will work out.
But... what if the best guy for the job is 68? You eliminate him because of that? POHO is an overseer position - they should be experienced enough to advise the GM.
 
But... what if the best guy for the job is 68? You eliminate him because of that? POHO is an overseer position - they should be experienced enough to advise the GM.

Bring me the best candidate for the job and I'll judge it case by case. Some 68 year olds only have another 1-2 years left of work in them. Some could work another decade.

I'd really like to hire the best candidate for the job...Who could be on the job for a decade plus.

If we have to rehire someone else in another 3-4 years I'd argue that isn't the best person for the job.
 
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Bring me the best candidate for the job and I'll judge it case by case. Some 68 year olds only have another 1-2 years left of work in them. Some could work another decade.

I'd really like to hire the best candidate for the job...Who could be on the job for a decade plus.

If we have to rehire someone else in another 3-4 years I'd argue that isn't the best person for the job.
Suppose the plan was for the POHO to retire in 4-5 years after grooming the GM. I wouldn’t mind a planned succession plan that keeps continuity in the front office while promoting from within. That also allows an AGM to step up to GM. I like keeping talented people around instead of losing them to other teams due to lack of opportunity. Of course this assumes the team is successful.
 
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There are so many names - we definitely don't know anything really. Ross Mahoney with WAS is 68 and is AGM - he's been involved in all aspects though and might be a good POHO. And Martin Madden with ANA seems to be really smart - has an engineering degree and an MBA and has done pretty much everything with ANA. I like that they're player personnel guys but also have management experience along with analytics work.
My son has an engineering degree and an MBA, and analytics experience. He also bleeds blue and orange, and is only 28. I'll have him submit a resume.
 
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Gorton still has that Rangers stink on him. It never goes away.

People in glass houses . . .

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