Islanders having the No. 1 pick makes their new GM hiring even more critical
A general view of UBS Arena. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders’ next boss must be NHL Draft savvy.
Of course, that should be a prerequisite for any general manager. But it certainly moved up the list of required job skills after the Islanders improbably won Monday night’s Draft Lottery for the first pick this June.
It’s been just over two weeks since the Islanders announced they would not renew the contract of president/general manager Lou Lamoriello. It’s believed the organization would like to make a hire within the next two weeks.
One of the names most prominently associated with the Islanders’ search — being conducted by operating partner John Collins — is former Red Wings and Oilers GM Ken Holland. Like Lamoriello, Holland is a Hall of Fame executive, inducted in 2020. Like Lamoriello, Holland has won three Stanley Cups as an NHL GM, with the Red Wings in 1998, 2002 and 2008.
Holland, who turns 70 in November, is 13 years younger than Lamoriello and, like Lamoriello, nothing at this point will subtract from the impressive career legacy he’s built.
Yet, given the Islanders’ sudden bounty of the No. 1 pick, Holland might not be the right man at the right time for the organization.
The Oilers did reach the Cup Final last season — Holland’s last in Edmonton — with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and defenseman Evan Bouchard forming a superstar core. But Holland was not able to build around those three via the draft. No player on the Oilers’ current roster was selected by Holland during his five-season Edmonton tenure (forward Mattias Janmark was a third-round pick of the Red Wings in 2013).
Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now, enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his writing career, reported in 2023 that 11 of Holland’s 46 draft picks in his last five seasons as Red Wings GM played 67 or more NHL games. Allen also reported that 26% success rate was well below the NHL average of around 45%.
Regardless of whether it’s Holland — and his prominent inclusion in the search indicates the Islanders likely are leaning toward an executive with previous NHL experience as a GM rather than one of the up-and-coming assistant GM candidates — or somebody else making the draft picks for the Islanders, their importance goes way beyond this year’s No. 1 selection.
The Islanders have all seven of their picks in this year’s draft and two first-round selections in 2026. Their prospect pipeline to the NHL and their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport are both in need of great improvement.
The Islanders, who have missed the playoffs in two of the last four seasons after reaching back-to-back NHL semifinals in 2020 and 2021 and have had three coaches in that span, are at a critical junction in team history. Hiring Lamoriello’s replacement(s) will be the organization’s most important move since bringing in Lamoriello on May 22, 2018.
Also to consider is whether it’s best to hold on to the No. 1 pick or trade it for multiple assets. It’s believed the Sharks, who last year took Macklin Celebrini with the first overall selection, desperately want to move up to No. 1 again after dropping to the second spot in the Draft Lottery. The belief is the Sharks very strongly want to draft defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
The Islanders could accommodate the Sharks and move back to No. 2 while adding other valuable assets and be happy drafting center Michael Misa. They also could move down and select Hauppauge’s James Hagens, widely projected to be picked in the top five.
We may be halfway to learning who will be making these calls.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
