Potential candidates to replace Islanders' Lou Lamoriello as GM
Jeff Gorton as Rangers general manager in 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Islanders are expected to cast a wide net in interviewing candidates to be their general manager or, potentially, president/GM as Lou Lamoriello was for seven seasons.
Islanders operating partner John Collins will lead the search for the team’s next GM, with some of the candidates he’s likely to talk to still involved in the NHL playoffs. Here is a list of five potential replacements for Lamoriello:
Rob Blake
The 55-year-old Hall of Famer has been the Kings GM since 2017 and was their assistant GM when they won their second Stanley Cup in 2014. The Kings are in the playoffs for the fourth straight season, though they’ve been eliminated in the first round the past three years. Blake’s contract expires after this season, and while the expectation is he’ll remain in Los Angeles, another first-round ouster could alter things. He and Islanders coach Patrick Roy won a Cup together with the Avalanche in 2001.
Gregory Campbell
The 41-year-old son of NHL Hall of Fame executive Colin Campbell is considered an up-and-coming executive candidate after two seasons as an assistant to Panthers GM Bill Zito, including winning the Cup in 2024. He has been an AHL GM since 2021 and previously worked as a player development coach for the Blue Jackets.
Mathieu Darche
Another assistant GM who is eventually expected to land a GM job. Darche, 48, was named director of hockey operations for the Lightning in 2019 and now also serves as the assistant GM to Julien BriseBois. The Lightning won the Cup in both 2020 and 2021 – beating the Islanders both seasons in the NHL semifinals – and were a Cup finalist in 2022.
Jeff Gorton
An out-of-the-box possibility given Gorton, 56, has overseen the Canadiens’ resurgence into a playoff team as their executive vice president of hockey operations since 2021. Gorton set the Bruins up for Cup success in his short stint as interim GM in 2006, drafting Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, trading for goalie Tuukka Rask and signing Zdeno Chara as a free agent. He oversaw the start of the Rangers’ rebuild as their GM before being let go. So the Islanders could make an interesting pitch: Run the show as president/GM and have a shot to prove the Rangers wrong.
Don Sweeney
Sweeney, 58, has been a Bruins executive since 2006 and their GM since 2015, with the team being a Cup finalist in 2019. But it’s believed his contract is expiring and with the Bruins in the midst of a rebuild with Patrice Bergeron retired and Marchand traded, perhaps Sweeney would prefer a new challenge and more say in an organization’s overall direction.
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.
