New York Islanders Ownership Must Hire President Now

It’s no secret that the new ownership group of Scott Malkin and Jonathan Ledecky have been looking to hire a President for the New York Islanders organization. The Islanders enter the second-half of the season after a major shake-up and letting head coach Jack Capuano go. The time is now for ownership to hire a President.

Hiring a President now would be ideal as that person can see what the New York Islanders have in terms of their NHL roster. They can get a sense of the team and where their strengths and weaknesses lie, as well as the character of the team.

They can also get to see up close and personal how this team responds with so much on the line in the second half of the season.

Not to mention the new President can get up to speed on all the Islanders prospects, as well as their scouting staff. They would get a sense of the entire organization in terms of hockey operations.

There is no reason to wait until the end of the season in terms of hiring a President, other than to find the right person of course.

Snow to Make a Significant Call?

After firing Jack Capuano this week, the next big question is how committed is ownership to Garth Snow? If they are not, why would ownership want to give Snow the ability to make a significant trade before the NHL trade deadline if he is not going to be part of the long-term plan?

In terms of trading a Dennis Seidenberg, Jason Chimera, or a Josh Bailey to free up cap space and acquire draft picks and prospects, there is no issue in those regards.

But as yours truly has written about recently because of expansion the Islanders probably have to make a significant trade. If Snow is on his way out do you want him making a major trade for the franchise?

If the new President was on board at least they would be part of that process and thinking and would have to sign off on a major transaction. Otherwise, why would ownership want Snow to make such a transaction?

Limbo ?

But waiting to the end of the season to hire a President of operations in essence ownership would be putting the organization in limbo in terms of player personnel. What are the benefits of doing that?

Ownership has met with many candidates since the summer. One has to also think they have reached out to people in the league as well to pick their brains. It has been reported ownership has sat down with many former Islanders to get their thoughts on the franchise as well.

At this point, both Malkin and Ledecky should know the exact profile they want from the person who would be the President of operations. Contacts in the league should also be able to help ownership narrow down the search to a short list of very serious candidates. Quite frankly one would imagine this has been done already.

Next: How The Isles Can Make a Ton of Cap Space Next Season

The time is now for ownership to take that big step and hire a President. This organization needs to start to move forward in terms of taking that big step and becoming a contender for the Stanley Cup.