The New York Islanders have a head coaching vacancy. Here are five guys that Lou Lamoriello could put behind the bench for the Islanders. Yesterday, the big story for the New York Islanders was Garth Snow losing his job as General Manager. This was a huge discussion point for obvious reasons, he was long overdue to be let go. Lou Lamoriello also made the decision to part ways with Doug Weight behind the bench. Weight was the 16th coach in Islanders history and it only lasted for 122 games, despite having the third highest winning percentage as a coach in team history. It was time for a move though, especially if the Islanders are looking for a new GM and a coaching change. The Islanders can go a few different routes here when it comes to finding a new coach. They could either go with an experienced veteran who has also had success in the playoffs, or they could go with a young up and coming coach. Today, we’ll break down five options and come up with who is the best case scenario for the New York Islanders to have behind the bench come 2018-2019.<doc-sep>UNIONDALE, NY - SEPTEMBER 15: Islanders General Manager Garth Snow speaks to the media during a press conference to announce center John Tavares has signed a six-year contract extension with the New York Islanders on September 15, 2011 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for New York Islanders) The Eyes on Isles Podcast returns for episode number 42 as Matt and Mitch will discuss all things New York Islanders on and off the ice. I wonder what we’ll talk about this week…Garth Snow is no longer the General Manager of the New York Islanders. As of yesterday, Lou Lamoriello removed Garth and Doug Weight from their original titles. We’ll get into that of course to start but we have a lot of other stuff to hit you with as well. This past week I took a look at the most likely pieces to be traded this month which we’re going to spend some time talking about. Here’s what to expect from episode 42: Long Topic: Garth Snow FIRED Obviously, we’ll start with the biggest news of the offseason. We’ve been waiting for this for a very long time and it’s an important day for the culture change for the New York Islanders franchise. We’ll break down everything about what went down yesterday and what it means for Tavares, etc. Short Topics Lou Speaking daily to Brisson Lou Lamoriello being in daily contact with the John Tavares’ agent has to be a pretty darn good sign. Misconception that they need a scoring winger Ilya Kovalchuk is continued to be linked to the Islanders. It doesn’t make sense for how the Islanders are currently constructed. But, we’ll break down why that’s far down the list of priorities. Five Pieces that can be traded The Islanders are likely going to be trading for a goalie and/or a defenseman in the next couple of weeks. We’ll talk about five who are most likely to be moved in those packages. Social Reaction to Garth Snow getting let go Offside Tavern Party on Friday If you missed last week’s show you can catch up on it here before we drop the latest episode tonight. As always be sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook page to stay up on all things New York Islanders.<doc-sep>LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: The Washington Capitals celebrate their victory over the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) The New York Islanders should take a page out of the Washington Capitals playbook. There’s a clear way to build a Stanley Cup champion. The Washington Capitals finally were able to get over the hump and win a championship. It’s something they’ve been building for ever since taking Alex Ovechkin back in 2004 with the first overall pick. The New York Islanders can learn a lot from Washington. It’s crazy to think that just three years ago, they were two evenly matched teams playing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It went seven games before the Islanders fell, but both teams have had different trajectories since then. The Caps, who finished with 101 points in 2015, the year the Islanders and Capitals met in the playoffs, followed that up with 120, 118 and 105 point seasons over the next three years. The Islanders, who had 101 points in 2015 also, dropped to 100, 94 and 80 each of the next three years. There’s a reason why the Capitals have been so successful. They draft, and scout extremely well. Let’s look at their lineup from Game 5 and look and how they got to the Capitals Look how many first-round selections, guys the Capitals drafted, in their lineup. They have eight guys that they drafted in the first round in that lineup. Their scouting department is pristine. Their first round pick from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014 are all impact guys in 2018. Another thing to notice, the UFA’s are all depth guys. Devante Smith-Pelly is a fourth liner and Brooks Orpik is a bottom pairing defenseman. You build through the draft and trades. Free agency is for your depth pieces. Now let’s look at the Islanders lineup: The Islanders only have six players who they selected in the first round playing for the Islanders. If you notice with the Islanders they tried to land a big time UFA in Andrew Ladd, which hasn’t worked. By the Capitals rule of thumb, you don’t do that, and it makes sense. Building through the draft makes so much more sense. Look at Barzal, the Islanders are getting silly production for under a million dollars. That’s how you win. You need cheap assets, usually guys on their ELC, and guys you extend. The Islanders 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 picks in the first round gave the Islanders virtually nothing. They’re not building blocks. They were failed prospects most of them. A lot of the blame has to go to Garth Snow and his scouting staff. Luckily for the Islanders, Lou Lamoriello has a great history at the draft. With four picks in the first two rounds, the Islanders have an ability to improve their team via the draft and also by trade, the two best ways to build a team. Outside of Tavares, the only UFA’s you should be concerned about are depth players. I’m fine with the Islanders signing a free agent for their third line center role, but as for goalie and defense, you have to go through a trade. The world champions taught us that. Luckily for the Islanders, they have a new regime ready to take over, and hopefully, this narrative that Snow drafted well can end because clearly, he didn’t.<doc-sep>
The Garth Snow era is over for the New York Islanders. For 12 years he sat at the helm. Twelve years of mistakes. Here are his top five. The New York Islanders are finally free of Garth Snow. Today the team announced that both he and Head Coach Doug Weight have been relieved of their duties by President of Hockey Operations Lou Lamoriello. Lou justified the moves as the Islanders needing a “culture change”. Amen. Did they ever need one. For 12 years Garth Snow sat as the General Manager, President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor for the New York Islanders. For 12 years Garth Snow was the one to make any and all decisions for the New York Islanders. Trades, free agency, and drafts. Garth Snow steered this franchise for 12 years. His crowning achievement was winning a single playoff series. Just one. In 12 years. He had a few bright spots. Namely trading Griffin Reinhart to the Edmonton Oilers. A trade that resulted in the Islanders picking Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier in the 2015 NHL draft. But Garth also had a long list of blunders to his name. Sure, every GM makes a mistake. But Garth Snow didn’t just have the one bad contract. Or the one bad trade on his GM resume. He had poor free agency periods, back-to-back poor draft picks, or smug decisions that backfired spectacularly. Narrowing it down to five wasn’t easy. But the Eyes on Isles staff figured this was Garth Snow’s top five blunders as General Manager of the New York Islanders. If we missed one, add it in the comments.