It's time for the Islanders to make some changes
Islanders president and GM Lou Lamoriello. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders are not good enough. We know this because we can count.
In 2021-22, they won 37 regular-season games and lost 45. In 2022-23, they won 42 and lost 40. In 2023-24, they won 39 and lost 43. Overall, that is 118-128.
They last won a playoff series in the second round against the Bruins in 2021. That was two coaches and one home arena ago.
They made the playoffs each of the past two seasons as much because of flops by their competitors as their own achievements.
They are in the worst place a professional sports franchise can be: mediocrity, with a roster full of not-so-young players with years left on their contracts.
Logically, this calls for a major overhaul, but the shape of that overhaul awaits a decision on the future of hockey operations boss Lou Lamoriello.
This is where we state the obvious: That Lamoriello is one of the greatest hockey executives of all time and has overseen the second-best era in Islanders history.
The Islanders have made the playoffs five of the past six years and reached two NHL semifinals, a run many franchises would sign up for.
But Lamoriello will turn 82 in October, has stubbornly stuck with an aging roster core and has not previously been inclined toward drastic rebuilds.
So perhaps this no longer is the right fit.
Will majority owner Scott Malkin pull that trigger? Who knows?
The guy does not share his thoughts with fans through the news media, so we are left to assume that Lamoriello has some sort of contract-for-life clause.
The fact he was allowed to hire a new coach in Patrick Roy in January could be a sign he is not going anywhere.
But again, Malkin is the only one who can shed light on this matter, and he does not seem inclined to do so.
Whether Lamoriello or someone else is in charge – presumably with input from Roy either way – changes must be made.
Unrestricted free agents Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin, two franchise pillars, seem likely to move on, unless one or both retires.
But the rest of the roster presents challenges.
Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri have one season left on their contracts. But nine players have at least two years left, including veterans such as Anders Lee (two), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (two) and Casey Cizikas (three).
So there are limits to how much Lamoriello or anyone else can change in the short term.
Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal have seven years left and are in their primes, so they must be centerpieces. Same goes for goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who has a new eight-year deal kicking in next season.
Defensemen Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov each have one season left on their contracts and will command healthy new deals, as they should.
The Islanders have to get younger and faster and more skilled and all of the other things that go into success in the NHL in the mid-2020s.
Blowing things up even during a period of relative success has worked elsewhere. Consider the NHL franchise geographically closest to the Islanders.
In 2021, the Rangers seemed to be headed in the right direction after the rebuild that began in 2018. Then they abruptly fired president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton and replaced them with Chris Drury.
The next season, the Rangers reached the conference finals. This season they won the Presidents’ Trophy, are loaded with star power and now in the second round will face the Hurricanes, the team the Islanders lost to in five games.
No matter who survives or departs in this seemingly obvious transition point, on and off the ice, the Islanders of the past six years deserve credit.
Behind Lamoriello, coaches Barry Trotz, Lane Lambert and Roy, and a proud core of players led by Lee, the captain, these guys gave fans plenty to cheer for while working through the COVID-19 pandemic and having three different home arenas.
They did not add the Islanders’ fifth Stanley Cup banner, but they did add to the lore of a franchise that needed this kind of run to regain its relevance and footing.
It has been an entertaining run. But it is time for changes.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
