The hiring last week of Mathieu Darche will be an interesting one for many reasons. While we do not know what his future entails, we do know what his recent past has taught us. Based on recent history, Mr. Darche will be here for quite a while.

And no, I’m not counting Neil Smith because he never got paid. Boy wasn’t that a shitshow, eh?

Since a lot of this fanbase is about 20 years old and have known nothing but mediocrity, losing, sucking, and cheering on players that they WANT to be legends but aren’t (Looking at you, Josh Bailey), it feels right that we do a little comparison of the last two general managers. Why not the last three? Milbury came through the 90’s and early 2000’s. It was a different era. Snow and Lou have been a GM as Connor McDavid et al have reshaped the league into an Indy racetrack.

As an aside – has there ever been a more perfect Islander name for the #IslesKoolAod to root for than Josh Bailey? His first name means “a joke.” They want to retire the number of an absolute fucking joke.

#BaBaBaldy

For this retrospective, a conversation between two long suffering fans makes sense. Thus we reach into the Internet Wayback Machine and call upon my buddy Matt from Hockey Independent to give his viewpoints on this edition of who wore it best – GM edition!

Questions:

1. What were the strengths and successes of Garth Snow?

Dan: I think with Garth Snow, it’s important to break the Snow era into two parts – when there were low expectations, and when there were raised expectations. The 2007-2008 season was the first season that we really saw the vision of Garth Snow. Yes, Snow started a year earlier, but that was a team assembled by Neil Smith, which included the drafting of Kyle Okposo, the signing of Tom Poti, Mike Sillinger, Victok Kozlov, a team that had 5 20+ goal scorers, including a 40 goal output from Jason Blake and 18 goals from Alexei Yashin in 58 games. But to be fair to Snow, when Mike Dunham was sucking hard, he promoted Wade Dubielewicz from the AHL, who saved the Islanders playoff hopes with a pokecheck – subsequently eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs from the playoffs that year. As an aside, the Islanders should look into bringing Dubie back to be the GM of Bridgeport. He still hold most of the goaltender records there, and is a successful junior GM.

My favorite part of that first Snow era? A 2007 spring tailgate party in the parking lot where Garth Snow himself came by to shoot the shit. He did some jello shots, proudly announcing that the Islanders were NOT making any attempts to resign Kozlov, who had 25 goals for the team at the end of the season. He also said Poti would be gone, with his 44 points in 78 games. His candid talk showed us his team building philosophy – to get the roster as inexpensive as possible, and to tank for draft picks.

And in that way? He was a success. The Islanders entry level picks in the early Snow period were:

The second half of that Snow era – when the team had acquired and amassed enough talent to be a playoff contender? Oh boy is that where it gets worse. But this is the place to write about the good parts, right? And gathering the parts for a playoff contender is a success.

Matt: Garth Snow did three good things. He traded for Ryan Smyth, he drafted John Tavares and he traded for Thomas Vanek. That’s all I got. He was charged with fixing this team and bringing it to the next level. He tried three times. In ten years.

2. What were the weaknesses and failures of Garth Snow?

Ladies and gentlemen…Corey Trivino!

Also, in the weakness column? Snow punted the ENTIRE 2007 draft – his first as a GM. He also punted the ENTIRE 2016 and the ENTIRE 2017 drafts. And you can argue that outside of round one of 2010 – where he traded a 5th overall for a 4th liner – that draft was also fucking terrible. Which gets to the main subject for this Garth Snow weakness – hubris.

Snow’s totally forgettable 2007 draft isn’t all on Garth, as trades for players in 2006 helped eat away at draft capital, so it’s not all on Garth. And 2008 only looked successful because the Islanders had SO MANY holes to fill, so guys like Josh Bailey and Travis Hamonic and Matt Martin and Kevin Poulin “Wall” made immediate impacts. As did Jared Spurgeon, just not for the Islanders.

2009 brought you John Tavares and Calvin DeHaan and Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee (a 6th round pick!). 2010 gives you Brock Nelson and the last part of the “Identity line” for a mere 4th overall pick.

After that draft? Ryan Strome – a 5th overall pick – becomes Jordan Eberle, who could have been drafted over Josh Bailey in 2008 and fit the team WAY better than Bailey did considering the ultimate obvious failing of the 2008 Islanders inevitably becoming Tavares. 2012 bring us Adam Pelech in round 3, and that’s it, even though the Islanders were picking at #4 overall that year. 2013 brought the Islanders to the playoffs (we were there in person) and Ryan Pulock in the draft, who shoots 100 miles an hour, but hits the net less than Fulton Reed.

Foggy?

I am so smart…

And how did Snow follow up? By punting the entire 2016 and 2017 NHL entry drafts. What scout looked at Keifer Bellows and said “He skates like the wind!” More importantly, what scout looked at Tage Thompson and Alex DeBrincat and said “This Bellows guy blows them away – do you know who his dad is?”

Thanks to his very early drafting success in 2008 and 2009, by 2011, Snow thought he was the smartest GM in the NHL. Based on his record, Peter Chiarelli did nothing to discourage such. But the disastrous 2017-2018 season was so bad, John Tavares- the franchise player and former number retiree- left the Islanders to go chase futility in the den of losers known as the 1968 to now Toronto Maple Leafs. Snow hads six years of poor drafting on the back of an 8th seed team in desperate need of roster help. So Snow made some great trades and free agent signings to supplement the roster?

Nope. No fucking way.

Most of Snow’s best early moves (2008-2010) were other teams trash, like Michael Grabner and Evgeni Nabokov and Matt Moulson and PA Parenteau. By the end of the Snow era? Snow was shopping for JF Berube. What a massive fuck up that needed to fuck off.

Cody Rosen, ladies and gentlemen.

Matt: Though people love to bash Mike Milbury and deservedly so, Garth Snow was much much worse. Milbury at least made moves with conviction. Garth Snow seemingly hasn’t moved since he helped Jack Capuano move out of his basement. The thing is, plan B never works. If you ever sat on a hiring committee, you made a decision to move someone forward and not move someone forward. Just because the one you picked said no, doesn’t mean that the second person is suddenly fit for the position. Garth Snow was plan C. After the short lived Pat LaFontaine and Neil Smith duo, Charles Wang, “fixed his error” by hiring Garth Snow.

A number of wasted draft picks later and here we are. I think it’s safe to say if Snow was even halfway decent, this team would have had sustained success. He wasn’t and the team hasn’t. There is really nothing left to say about Garth. He was bad at his job and the Islanders and Islander fans suffered for it. Just to look at the three good things I said Snow did, here is how they ended up….He couldn’t re-sign Ryan Smyth. He failed to extend Thomas Vanek and traded him for stud Sebastian Collberg and a second round pick that was included in a trade for first which resulted in Josh Ho-Sang. John Tavers left after Snow signed Josh Bailey to a stupid contract and showed up to his final press conference in his pajamas looking like Castaway…actually like he ate Castaway. If I saw Garth Snow, I would ask how his new GM job is going. Oh, what? He hasn’t worked since the Isles fired him? What a shocker!

3. What were the strengths and successes of Lou Lamoriello?

Dan: In my opinion, Lou has had three major achievements as King of the Islanders. One – hiring Barry Trotz. Hall of Fame coach. Stanley Cup winner. Maximized the Islanders to the point that a Josh Bailey fuck up – which, like Thanos, is inevitable – led to the Islanders losing an Eastern Conference game 7 and singlehandedly preventing the Drive for 5 from happening.

The second achievement? Russia. Without Lou, there is no Sorokin. Or Maxim Tsyplakov. Or Semyon Varlamov. Lou is well regarded in Russia, unless you are Artemi Panarin.

The final achievement? Being old school. Lou speaks to men like men spoke to men 25 years ago. Athletes respect that. Men respect that. This whole pussified speaking situation we live in, where we are afraid that speaking frankly will lead to the truth hurting feelings so we need to not fire the failure but the success because they were honest? So we speak dishonestly all of the time now? That’s fucking stupid. Look at the effect Lou had on Robin Lehner. Look at the impact Lou had on Mathieu Darche. Look at how Lou has a real loyal base. He got that for what people would call “being real.”

Matt: Lou was the perfect hire post Garth Snow. He put out the tire fire that Snow lit and he brought the Isles back to respectability. Without Lou Barry Trotz doesn’t come here, Sorokin is still in Russia and the Islanders are playing in Quebec.

4. What were the weaknesses and failures of Lou Lamoriello?

Dan: Lou drafts worse than Garth Snow. Lou’s draft achievements after 7 years? Noah Dobson and Simon Holstrom. That’s pathetic.

Now, you can argue that Lou turned first round picks into Bo Horvat, JG Pageau, Alexander Romanov, and Kyle Palmieri. That’s way BETTER then turning a 4th and a 5th overall into Cal Clutterbuck and Jordan Eberle – who was lost to an expansion draft because Seattle looked at Eberle or Bailey plus draft picks, and picked the productive one. And that is Lou’s philosophy. You had a team a player away from a Stanley Cup – probably John Tavares, which Snow fucked up – so why throw it all away when you can add a piece. Well, now a lot of those pieces are on the wrong side of 30. They need a guy to move on from those and retool to get younger.

Those players – most of them Snow draft picks from 2008-2010, with 3 exceptions – are VERY tradable. They’re still useful, especially to young teams that need the experienced guy to show you how to win. Do the Islanders players still know how to do that? Remember when Pulock blocked the goal mouth to prevent a game tying goal against Tampa Bay? Think he can do that again? Then trade him. Get pieces to build for the future. Lou couldn’t get it.

At the end of the day, this was the most impressive moment in the history of the Lou Lamoriello era.

Matt: Lou was unable to sign talent. I don’t have a problem with his drafts and I like his trades. I don’t count Tavares as part of this. His mind was made up long before Lou got here. Lou and Trotz were the only reason it took him until 1:30 to actually say he was leaving. However, this is where the knock on Lou starts. He wanted Tavares back, he lost Tavares and then what? The following year, he wanted Panarin, he lost Panarin, and then what? He said he wasn’t in on Johnny Gaudreau, but we know he was, he lost him and then what? He was unable to get the Islanders over the hump. Everyone will point to the Devon Toews trade as his low point, but the same people still want Nick Leddy on the team. When Lou finally brought in Bo Horvat, in a masterful trade and yes a good contract, as similar players will now be getting 10-12 million per, you saw the difference. Lou was simply unable to reel in free agents to take the next step and get guys better than what we already had.

5. Which GM had a greater positive impact on the New York Islanders? Why?

Dan: Garth Snow. This is a hard choice to make, but Snow did bring in Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ilya Sorokin, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Mathew Barzal, Scott Mayfield, Jordan Eberle, Thomas Greiss, Jaroslav Halak, Evgeny Nabokov, and others that put this team back into annual playoff contention. How many of those guys are still on the team?

Also, Snow was smart enough to NOT resign Franz Neilsen and Kyle Okposo. Okposo does have a cup ring, and I am so happy for him – he deserves it based on how his career started – but Snow did what Lou couldn’t. He said goodbye. A few weeks ago, Lou was offering Brock Nelson 3 years at $7.5 million per and 2 years at $4.5 million to Palmieri. Sometimes you need to say goodbye.

Good move.

Matt: I understand saying that the lasting impact of Snow seems better, but Lou has been gone for two months. He turned the franchise around in two hours. Yes, he missed on some things and yes, it was time to move on from him, but I think his impact is, and will continue to be greater than Snow’s.

6. Which GM had a greater negative impact on the New York Islanders? Why?

Dan: Garth Snow. Maybe it was working for Charles Wang who refused to spend money on the team. Maybe it was his own pride. Maybe it was because after he left the ice as a player he couldn’t identify talent outside of any position that wasn’t goalie. Whatever it was, blaming an arena everyone loved for not signing free agents is a poor excuse.

Snow was also awful at picking head coaches. Did Snow fuck up with picking Scott Gordon, Jack Capuano and Doug Weight as head coaches? Absolutely. Weight has gotten no interest since then, and Capuano somehow popped up in Ottawa. But hey, Scott “Overspeed” Gordon has been a coach in the NHL and AHL since he got canned, so there’s that. Also, overspeed was seeing the future of the NHL, wasted on a roster of Bill Guerin and Doug Weight, who in their prime weren’t fast, and only got slower. Snow picked coaches who were dumber than him, which is not how you build a staff. You always pick someone smarter than you, so you look good. Snow never got that. After all, he WAS the smartest guy in the room!

Dan Laroquette as Garth Snow.

Matt: Garth Snow – do I really need to explain why? He’s the worst and you can’t convince me otherwise. I would rather hire Dan Laroquette to a ten year contract than ever see Garth Snow near the Islanders again.

7. Based on this teams history of performance by general managers, what advice would you offer to Mathieu Darche?

Dan: Make some motherfucking trades. Unlike Snow and Lou? Sell assets high. This is a PERFECT time to do so. You have a cap expansion, so you can drop off contracts like Pageau, Pelech, Pulock, and Mayfield with ways to replace them with what’s in house and what you can acquire.

Also, let Anders Lee ride it out. He’s the Captain and players respect him. Plus he’s good in the community. And I get the feeling that he’ll do a Toronto special and sign minimum wage deals on a year by year basis until he can’t produce anymore. As is, he IS still a 20 goal scorer every year, and one of the very few players that is effective on the power play. Yes, $7 million is an overpay, but when his contract is up? $16 million in cap space is available.

And to remind you, make some motherfucking trades. You lucked into a first overall draft pick this year. If next year is a transition and the NHL is doing a public draft lottery again, your odds are good to move up again, as the league is still fixing the lottery, but with the all star gmae fuck up, they still owe you. You may end up with 2 number ones in a row without having to be the Oilers or the Devils or the Blackhawks or the Rangers. Meanwhile you are acquiring young potential for older, proven talent, and after a year, you can pick a head coach and really fire up the retool.

Matt: Move on from players and don’t hold out for the perfect return. Goodbye to Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and JG Pagaeu. These guys aren’t getting younger and they aren’t getting any better. As far as who replaces them? For the first time in Islanders history, try tailoring your team to the coaches style! When the Islanders hired Scott Gordon and we heard about his impressive “overspeed” system, do you remember what Garth Snow gave him? Nothing. He traded twice to draft Josh Bailey, John Tavares fell in his lap and then there was Jon Sim, Dean McAmmond, Mitch Fritz, Jeff Skinner etc. Gordo was given Mark Streit and Doug Weight which was nice. Anyway, ask Roy what he needs and get it for him. If then Roy doesn’t succeed? It’s on him. Next, fix Bridgeport. We all know why. And, no, not to have top talent waste away there, to have serviceable players come up when we have injuries. Do those two things, evaluate and adjust as needed. Hopefully Darche has plan. He will be the first GM of the Islanders in forty five years to have one.