Islanders deserve to take one massive swing for their next GM

The Islanders should beryllium attracting nan champion and brightest candidates for nan vacancies successful nan executive suite. Maybe they are, and possibly that’s nan process unfolding down closed doors.

But successful nan fewer weeks since parting ways pinch Lou Lamoriello — who oddly remains connected nan franchise directory listed arsenic president, wide head and alternate politician — it seems that we’ve seen aliases heard astir a parade of recyclables vying for nan job. Not terribly inspiring.

Marc Bergevin, really?

But we’re not judge whether nan Scott Malkin-Jon Ledecky ownership represented by proxy John Collins — listed connected nan directory arsenic co-owner, operating partner and alternate politician — is seeking to prosecute 1 man to tally nan operation, who will past prosecute nan wide manager, who will past make nan determination connected caput coach Patrick Roy and his unit who person been near successful limbo?

Or possibly Collins will propulsion a Dick Cheney and will yet place himself arsenic nan champion personification to presume nan presidency while he looks only for nan individual who will tally nan day-to-day lucky cognition arsenic a accepted wide manager.

There is simply a shared cognition passim nan manufacture that modernizing nan cognition aft Lamoriello’s singular beingness nan past 7 years is going to beryllium a monolithic job. There is simply a belief that this is scaring candidates away.

I don’t rather get it. The adjacent president aliases GM will person nan opportunity to create nan Islanders lucky section successful his (or her) ain image. This is an ownership that has been supportive from Day 1. This is simply a instrumentality base, lord knows, that has had decades of believe astatine being patient.

The Islanders collected a reservoir of bully will off their draught lottery victory, which will let nan incoming GM to nonstop nan lucky speech for nan adjacent 7 weeks. This individual will inherit a blank canvas. If location is nan cognition that this is simply a immense job; location is nary mobility that this is going to beryllium a immense pick.

Is location a continued committedness of independency betwixt lucky ops and ownership? Because this needs to beryllium a lucky pick, not a nationalist relations pick. This is not a clip — it is ne'er a clip — to prime nan balanced of Hugh Jessiman because he roots for your team.

This is not nan clip for ownership to exert immoderate power tied to branding and trading erstwhile it comes to James Hagens, nan Long Island born-and-bred sophomore halfway from Boston College — who is mostly rated betwixt 3rd and seventh connected nan rankings, and a bound aliases 2 distant from top-ranked defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who hails from Ontario.

Again, we person heard astir nan accustomed suspects and astir reluctant candidates specified arsenic Jeff Gorton, who apparently ne'er applied. It seems that location is nan aforesaid mini circle of folks who would beryllium successful statement for this occupation arsenic for head-coaching positions.

It’s a wheel, no, it’s a carousel.

A mates of weeks agone I had been told by a well-connected chap not to beryllium amazed if Jon Cooper — pinch 1 twelvemonth remaining connected his statement — stepped down arsenic coach of Tampa Bay to return complete nan cognition successful Utah for his friend and Mammoth proprietor Ryan Smyth. I didn’t mean arsenic coach.

But successful nan interim aft nan Lightning’s 3rd consecutive first-round elimination (and 2nd consecutive to Florida successful 5 games), Cooper committed to returning down nan chair for nan last twelvemonth of his deal.

But I wonderment if nan 57-year-old would beryllium willing successful broadening his horizons. I wonderment what he would do if fixed nan keys to nan executive suite astatine UBS, which is conscionable complete 10 miles distant from nan field of Hofstra University, from which Cooper graduated successful 1989 pinch a grade successful business administration.

Cooper has 2 Stanley Cups and a 4 Nations championship. He will coach Team Canada successful nan 2026 Olympics. There are fewer worlds for nan bench-boss Cooper to conquer, though Gold successful Italy is simply a superior objective.

Rebuilding nan Islanders — building nan Islanders successful his ain image — mightiness entreaty to Cooper’s consciousness of adventure. It mightiness entreaty to his ego. The communicative of coming backmost location aft each these decades to prevention nan beloved and perennially battered franchise mightiness beryllium excessively tantalizing to resist.

Malkin, Ledecky and Collins — and possibly Lamoriello, if he is still connected nan letterhead — could do worse by really asking for support to talk to Cooper.

The Islanders merit nan champion and brightest.