Garth Snow: Pros and Cons to Another Year as Islanders GM

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Oct 9, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders owner Charles Wang drops the ceremonial puck between New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) before the first regular season NHL game at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Garth Snow’s tenure as GM of the New York Islanders could very well be up at the end of this season. After 11 years at the veritable top of the Islanders hierarchy, his time has probably come. Probably.

It’s only a probably because Garth Snow has survived disappointing seasons before. But after a number of disappointing seasons, does a new ownership group cut him lose? Finally?

It would be hard to imagine that the Isles new ownership group would put their stamp of approval on the Garth Snow brand after this season by giving him yet another year.

But then you remember the 2013-14 season. The Isles fell to 8th in the new Metropolitan division with a total of 79 points on the season. Garth didn’t go anywhere.

Yeah, different owners but this is a results-oriented business. How Garth talked himself into not being fired after that let down is something that deserves it’s own self-help book deal: “How To Keep Your Job When You Utterly Failed”. That’s my working title.

It’s not all bad though. Garth has done some good for this franchise.

He built a team that made the playoffs for four of those years. His team finally won a playoff round last season. He’s built a sturdy stream of promising young talent that is fed into the organization. Most of that done on a shoe-string budget.

He’s done all of that. And that’s why he might just stick around another year. Because he’s not 100% terrible.

You’ve probably already made up your mind on what needs to happen with Garth Snow, but here are some pros and cons to help those undecided folks still on the fence.