The Islanders answered the largest query hanging over the franchise on Tuesday by letting basic supervisor Lou Lamoriello go after seven seasons in cost.
The primary query for whoever replaces him will probably be what to do with the teaching and hockey operations workers.
Coach Patrick Roy, assistants John MacLean, Tommy Albelin and Benoit Desrosiers, in addition to assistant basic managers Steve Pellegrini and Chris Lamoriello, are successfully in limbo proper now.
A staff spokesman confirmed to The Submit that the plan is for Roy and the remainder of the hockey operations workers to satisfy with the brand new GM when somebody is employed and go from there.
Roy’s file as head coach has been, at greatest, combined.
The injection of vitality he introduced a yr in the past helped the Islanders make a run into the playoffs, however his first full season behind the bench failed to hold that over, with a 35-35-12 file and end-of-season implosion that noticed the Islanders miss the playoffs.
Roy ran a spirited coaching camp, however later mentioned he wished he’d spent extra time on particular groups, and the Islanders completed thirty first league vast in each energy play and penalty kill.
Signing Anthony Duclair in free company, a transfer Roy is believed to have influenced closely, additionally backfired in spectacular trend, with Duclair getting damage 5 video games into the season and taking a private go away of absence in April after an infuriated Roy known as his play “god-awful” and questioned his effort.
It stays unclear whether or not Roy may have the prospect to interview for the GM function, although it definitely wouldn’t be stunning if he got a possibility to state his case.
Roy coached whereas holding the vp of hockey operations job with the Avalanche, however the dichotomy between him and Joe Sakic — the membership’s different decision-maker on the time — led to his resignation.
Roy mentioned upon being employed by the Islanders that he’s since realized it’s inconceivable to do each a entrance workplace and head teaching job concurrently within the NHL, and that he had no real interest in influencing personnel.
Nonetheless, Roy is nothing if not assured in his skills, and it’s not recognized whether or not his angle has modified a couple of transfer as much as the entrance workplace.
From a Machiavellian perspective, changing into GM would additionally guarantee Roy’s job safety, as he would then get to rent a brand new head coach himself versus being compelled to interview to maintain his job.
That mentioned, Roy’s résumé doesn’t essentially indicate he’s able to tackle a task of this magnitude.
Outdoors of the junior-level Quebec Remparts, he’s by no means held sole authority over hockey operations, so making him the overall supervisor would quantity to an enormous swing from possession.
