The New York Islanders exorcised a few demons during the 2015-16 season. David Volek's unintentional shadow on the organziation is now gone as the team advanced to the second round for the first time since Volek one-timed Ray Ferraro's pass into the back of the net in Pittsburgh.
People will say that New York was fortunate to defeat the Florida Panthers and Florida outplayed them for most of the series. The reverse can be said in the second round as the Islanders should have been up 3-1 in the series. I am not one of those people. I follow the philosophy of former New York Jets and Giants head coach Bill Parcells.
"You are what your record says you are"
I looked at the Islanders as they were shaking the hands of the defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning and thought to myself, is this team any closer to winning a Stanley Cup? Two very wealthy men will now have the say in answering that question.
Isles season ends with 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay, now it's up to Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin to make improvements the team needs.
— Mark Herrmann (@markpherrmann) May 8, 2016
Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin will become the new majority owners on July 1st. The succession of power has been in place since the two became minority owners back in 2014. It basically became their team once the clock struck zero in Game 5. The duo has a long to do list on their desks. Before they even tackle the UFAs and Hamonic situation they have to decide if current general manager Garth Snow is their man.
Snow has been at the helm since 2006. The "rebuild" began following the 2007 playoffs. So far it has produced one surefire star, John Tavares. Snow relied on youngsters to take the next step this season. The trio of Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome all had difficult seasons. Take a look at why Tampa is still playing despite not having their captain Steven Stamkos, their youngsters outplayed the Isles ones. Strome and Nelson were both first-round picks. For the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov were a second-round pick and Tyler Johnson was not even drafted. The Isles need to do a better job developing their young players because this team has a deep system. I'll quote Parcells once again. "Potential means you haven't done anything yet."
Snow should be looking over his shoulder as his friend and first agent in the NHL George McPhee is in the organization. McPhee was the Washington Capitals general manager when Ledecky was part owner. McPhee is probably not the answer but it should put pressure on Snow to produce this offseason if the owners give him the chance.
Dan and I will start breaking down the roster in the next week and give our take on which UFAs, RFAs they should sign, decide on a starting goaltender for next year and what free agents the team should bring in.
I appreciate everyone following us over the course of the year. It was a lot of fun being a part of it.