New York Islanders fans want Lou Lamoriello fired, and it's not hard to understand why
The New York Islanders were in the playoffs the previous three seasons, until 2021-2022. Last season the cracks began to show as the Lou Lamoriello constructed team began to fall apart. Many expected Lou to make a big move this summer, but that hasn't been the case.
Lou Lamoriello has won multiple Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils, and after that, it seems like a lot of front-office personnel and coaches in the NHL, coast off of these wins. This Isles offseason has shown, that Lamoriello is not up to the task of building a contending team anymore.
His first mistake was jettisoning Barry Trotz, who had brought legitimacy to a struggling franchise. Using Garth Snow's core to go to the playoffs, three times in his tenure with the organization.
The theme of the 2021-2022 New York Islanders is mismanagement, and while it was great to secure another defenseman like Alexander Romanov, the cost was too high, for a team who is aging.
Let's discuss Lou's horrific free-agency decisions, other than Romanov. There were in fact no decisions made, Lou punted on Sonny Milano, Kevin Fiala, and lost out on Nazem Kadri and Johnny Gaudreau.
How are the Islanders supposed to be taken seriously as a team ready to win, if they're passive with the cap and afraid to move contracts to make it work? This is an abject failure for the front office.
Above is the list of players he did pull the trigger on, and the only player still in the NHL is Semyon Varlamov, who has been relegated to the backup by Ilya Sorokin.
I'd argue that this was incompetence, but this is par for the course with Lou-managed teams, as we've covered before.
The next GM will need to tear this team down to the studs, to get anywhere after this season.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 19 | 196 ANSWERS New York Islanders fans want Lou Lamoriello fired, and it's not hard to understand why Should Lou Lamoriello Be Fired? | ||
| Yes, he's no longer a quality GM | 137 | 69.9 % |
| No, he can still build a contender | 59 | 30.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
