New York Islanders GM Wants Improvements

According to a report by ESPN, New York Islanders GM Garth Snow knows his wasn’t good enough and that improvements are required in the offseason. Also, this just in; water is wet.

Snow goes on to state that he believes that his team lost to a “better team” in the Tampa Bay Lightning and that losing in the second round is “not good enough.” He want’s better for his team, and that’s a great sign for any fan.

To anyone watching the series, this statement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Tampa Bay Lightning were clearly the better team. That’s not to say that the Lightning dominated proceedings, the Islanders held their own. But they lost to what was a team with more depth and talent.

This year was an improvement from last regarding how far the Islanders went. Their regular season record wasn’t much different from 2014-15. But, unlike last year and in fact the last 23 years, the Islanders won a playoff series.

The New York Islanders have improved year-after-year over the last three seasons. From missing the playoffs, to making the playoffs and losing in seven games, to this year making past the first round.

Statement of Intent Missing

Enter GM Snow’s comments. It’s not that we shouldn’t believe that the team needs to improve. That’s clear. It’s he hasn’t added any value to the conversation on what needs to improve. All Snow did with his comments was remind everyone what his job description was.

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The GM is there to propel the team forward and towards a Stanley Cup. That’s the ultimate goal. Every team needs to improve to reach this goal. Stagnation is the kiss of death to a franchise.

As a fan, we want to know how he plans to do this. Of course, Snow won’t go out publicly and state what players he plans on acquiring and what players he plans to let walk or re-sign. But there are ways to state intent without negatively impacting his work.

Prioritizing Actions

Thanks to sites like capfriendly.com or generalfanager.com, fans can gain a glimpse of the constraints facing their favorite teams. For fans of the New York Islanders, we know that there are 15 pending free agents this year.

What we should be looking for from the GM is an indication of what his priorities are. For the New York Islanders, it’s sorting out our pending free agents. Again, it’s not to state who Snow will sign and who he won’t sign, but just to say that he has a priority list for dealing with the team’s free agents would go a long way.

Next: 2016 UFAs

Doing so in no way hinders what he does in the offseason. What it does do is provide us as fans a sense of what his priorities are for the franchise and how he plans on making it better.

Snow is a good GM. His handling of the Hamonic situation was exemplary, and it paid off handsomely for him. But a detail of his job description does little to indicate to the fan base what the plan is going forward.