It could be the reason we haven't heard anything is because L&M have candidates in mind, they want to interview but can't because their teams are still playing. For example, Eric Tulsky is the assistant GM for the Hurricanes. Carolina is a team that has been built well thru the draft. Since the Hurricanes are still playing, they can't interview him.
I really hope this isn't true but who knows. Chris Botta on Twitter: "If Lou Lamoriello wasn’t getting his way in talks with Scott Malkin, you would know by now. He’d be gone. The expectation is he’s either: - retaining both top roles, or - will remain #Isles President and has picked his GM — likely Chris Lamoriello" / Twitter
Hard to imagine any worse news than that, both for the short-term (management incapable of seeing how bad the team is) and long-term (ownership incapable of seeing the first point) future of the team
I much prefer the other rumor going around that Lou becomes President and brings in Kyle Dubas as GM. As much as I hate the Leafs he’s done an amazing job constantly bringing in competent players while handcuffed by the contracts of the big 4 on the team. We can argue all day that the team has failed to live up to their promise but he’s had to ride out those four players. At some point he’ll have to trade one of them but up until now hasn’t been the time. Or perhaps he’ll be with a team and trade for one of them.
Stefen Rosner on Twitter: "Hearing #Isles vs. #NYR Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium will be on Sunday, Feb. 18. #NJDevils vs. #Flyers will be the day before, Saturday, Feb. 17. Times TBD." / Twitter
Andrew Gross on Twitter: "Per @Sportico , former NHL CEO John Collins is investing in #Isles and will become the team's operating partner and run the Islanders' business operations. He will work with owner Scott Malkin and co-owner Jon Ledecky." / Twitter
Greg Wyshynski on Twitter: "Hearing we have official start times for the MetLife Stadium NHL outdoor games next season: Sat., Feb. 17: @NHLFlyers at @NJDevils, 8 p.m. ET Sun., Feb. 18: @NYRangers at @NYIslanders, 3 p.m. ET" / Twitter
Not to take anything away from Ullmark who had a great season obviously, but he was on a strong team despite the playoff choke job. Sorokin is the better goalie and was the only reason the Isles made the playoffs.
Bailey traded. Pure salary dump. Frank Seravalli on Twitter: "#Isles have traded Josh Bailey and a 2026 2nd Round pick to the #Blackhawks for future considerations. Pure salary dump." / Twitter
Busy day for Lou. Don’t love the 7 years for Mayfield and Engval but I haven’t seen the dollars yet but he’s clearly just pushing the cap burden down the road. But if he can swing a trade for DeBrindcat it’ll be hard to be upset about the team going into the season.
Extending Sorokin is a no-brainer. Re-signing Varlamov is fine, but four years to at least one year too many. Seven-year deals for Mayfield and Engvall are way too long, and IMO Engvall showed absolutely nothing in his time with the team that would encourage you to bring him back at all. The team would have been far better off blowing most of it up and aiming for the playoffs in 2025-2026, but of course once they didn't dump Lamoriello the way they should have, this kind of "let's try not to embarrass ourselves too much, but also be sure to have no realistic chances to win anything" thing was inevitable.
Replacing the Bridgeport HC. Bridgeport Islanders on Twitter: "Thank you, Brent Thompson, for 10 seasons of leadership. A franchise-record 328 wins. Best of luck in Anaheim. https://t.co/rfa5eUuuNW" / Twitter
I didn't realize the Barclay Center was hurting for business. ✨ on Twitter: "Workers at Barclays have seen their hours diminished after the Islanders got their own stadium on Long Island. With fewer events since the hockey team skated, most of the 650 workers in the union are forced to work other gigs to pay the bills. #isles https://t.co/24xGGFi55v" / Twitter
