April 22, 2025 • 8 mins
This afternoon, the New York Islanders announced they will not be renewing the contract of President/GM Lou Lamoriello, after 7 seasons with the franchise which saw 5 playoff appearances and near-back to back Stanley Cup Finals appearances, arguably the franchise’s most successful stretch post-Dynasty.
My reaction to the move as well as what could come next for Isles Nation.
My reaction to the move as well as what could come next for Isles Nation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. Oh baby,
we got a big one today.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Some big breaking news has just broken down in Aisles Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Big day here.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The start of a new era for the New York
Islanders has begun as of this afternoon. The team just
putting out a statement a couple of minutes ago stating
that president and GM lou La Morello's contract will not
be renewed and that they will immediately be beginning a
search to find the next general manager of the New
(00:35):
York Islanders franchise. Now, I can't really say I'm too
shocked with this given his recent track record, his questionable
contracts and moves, even though I am okay with what
he did at the deadline, shipping off brock Nelson for
futures was exactly what needed to be done. Although with
(00:58):
that being said, I do feel there was way more
that they could have done, Like, there was definitely at
least three more players thought they could have gotten rid of.
They definitely could have gotten a second, maybe a first
for Kyle Palmery. They could have gotten something for John
Gabriel Pascho. I know a couple of Western Conference teams
(01:19):
were interested in his services, but they didn't really pick
up much on him, and perhaps maybe they could have
taken some calls for andrews Lee, who did have his
best statistical season in twenty four to twenty five, since
he was a forty goal scorer in twenty seventeen eighteen,
(01:40):
so there was a lot he could have done this
season that I think could have more so benefited the
future of the franchise. Sure, and his track record of
contracts was pretty questionable. Let's just say, one of the
big ones, of course, being the seven year contract given
out to Pierre Engball.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And I wouldn't be lying.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
If I said he looked awful at the start of
the year, but to his credit, he has really really
picked it up to end the season. So he looks
like somebody you can have in that middle six moving forward.
He somebody who very well looks like he's worth a
seven year deal. Apart from that, though, you also have
a lot of questions with Scott Mayfield and a seven
(02:26):
year deal, though I was pretty impressed with what he
was able to put together this year. Semyon Varlamov has
not played since November and there's some questions on whether
or not he's going to be healthy for twenty five
twenty six, but he has.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Stated in postseason interviews that.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He was going to be good to go for next season,
that he wants to be good to go and he's
going to do everything he can to make sure that
he gets back on the ice at that point, which
is pretty important considering the struggles of their third stringer.
Marcus Hogberg did have a really good stretch, started out
as their second string goalie when Varley went down. I
(03:04):
was very impressed with him, but then he just had
a real rough cold patch, especially during that last stretch
of the season. It was just something else to watch.
It's not really like you have much else in the
pipeline there with Jakobscarek and also Tristan Lennox, who, to
(03:25):
be fair, I can't really dog on him.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
He didn't get much of a fair shot.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Is one and only appearance of the season against the Rangers,
so I definitely need to see more on him before
I can really formulate an opinion.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
As far as that goes.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But there was definitely some work that needs to be
done for these guys, for sure, because really there's nothing
else in the pipeline as of right now.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I mean, yeah, you got Cali Richie back from Colorado.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
He looks promising as hell, really hoping he can make
an impact as soon as next season, if not the
season after twenty six twenty seven. You got Cole Isierman
as well. He looks really freaking promising. He's definitely gonna
be somebody to build around as well. But then you
also got guys like Matt Maggio, Alex Jeffries, and I
(04:21):
guess which you technically count Isaiah George in there too.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I mean, he looked really good on the island.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But they had too many defensemens, so he's more or
less had to spend most of the time in Bridgeport,
which you know, can't really fault him for. It's just
that they also got guys like Tony Diangelos, got Perinovich,
Adam Bokvist. Can't really fault him for that one. I
am hoping to see a more consistent role for Isaiah George,
(04:49):
who I met at the draft of Montreal by the
way in twenty twenty two, really rooting for him to
get more of a fair shot on the island in
twenty five twenty six. Of course, I'm going to be
rooting for the rest of the boys as a new
era begins to dawn here with lou Lamorello no longer
employed by the New York Islanders. So definitely very bittersweet
(05:15):
for sure, him being the right jam at the right
time in twenty eighteen, but being past his expiration date.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I mean, you can say, what do you want.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
About lose recent track record, but post dynasty, he has
given the Islanders more success than.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They have had in any other era.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I mean, he brought them to the brink of the
Stanley Cup finals not once, but two years in a row,
made the playoffs I believe five of his seven years
as the GM Now granted the last two were first
round exits, but still at the exact same time, that's
still a damn good run. Given the dark ages that
(05:55):
this franchise has been through since the Dynasty, well with
the John Spano years, Charles Wong's mismanagement of the team
at times, Mike Milberry rest in peace of the Lake
Ray Charles Wong, by the way, Compared to those times,
this is basically our golden age right here, and this
is definitely gonna be something to build upon as long
(06:17):
as they can just nail the GM higher. Now, who
exactly they target, whether or not it's going to be
somebody who's experienced at the job or giving it to
a first timer, is really anybody's guess, is it?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Right now? One thing I do not want to see.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
For the love of God, please do not hire his son,
Chris Limorello to run the team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Please please please do not. Have you seen the way
he is run Bridgeport into the ground? I believe their
worst season.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
In their history, And you really think he's gonna be
capable of running an NHL team, Just if you're gonna
send one Lamarello out the door, send the other one.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Just please do.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And if you really think Patrick Waugh should stay as
the head coach of the team, then I don't know,
maybe you haven't been paying enough attention to the team,
because his actions of the past couple of games look
like he just is ready to go. And the more
I've seen from him down the stretch, the more I
can see why he has not landed a single NHL
(07:22):
head coaching job since he resigned from Colorado in twenty sixteen.
So don't be surprised if you see a new hire,
but behind the bench as well, because his recent actions
show me that he's just given up and that he
might very well be ready to go. Either way, it
will be the correct decision. Just hoping that they can
nail the GM HighRes and go from there. I'm sure
(07:45):
we'll know in the coming days who exactly they're gonna
try to target as the next GM. See some more
rumors pop up around Elmont in the coming days. It's
really anybody's guests right now. Operating partner John Collins is
going to be leading that search, so we'll see how
it goes. But one thing is for certain to day,
(08:08):
a new era has dawned on Long Island, and I'll
be back to talk more about it as we know.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
More here on PEG's perspective.
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. Oh baby,
we got a big one today.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Some big breaking news has just broken down in Aisles Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Big day here.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The start of a new era for the New York
Islanders has begun as of this afternoon. The team just
putting out a statement a couple of minutes ago stating
that president and GM lou La Morello's contract will not
be renewed and that they will immediately be beginning a
search to find the next general manager of the New
(00:35):
York Islanders franchise. Now, I can't really say I'm too
shocked with this given his recent track record, his questionable
contracts and moves, even though I am okay with what
he did at the deadline, shipping off brock Nelson for
futures was exactly what needed to be done. Although with
(00:58):
that being said, I do feel there was way more
that they could have done, Like, there was definitely at
least three more players thought they could have gotten rid of.
They definitely could have gotten a second, maybe a first
for Kyle Palmery. They could have gotten something for John
Gabriel Pascho. I know a couple of Western Conference teams
(01:19):
were interested in his services, but they didn't really pick
up much on him, and perhaps maybe they could have
taken some calls for andrews Lee, who did have his
best statistical season in twenty four to twenty five, since
he was a forty goal scorer in twenty seventeen eighteen,
(01:40):
so there was a lot he could have done this
season that I think could have more so benefited the
future of the franchise. Sure, and his track record of
contracts was pretty questionable. Let's just say, one of the
big ones, of course, being the seven year contract given
out to Pierre Engball.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And I wouldn't be lying.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
If I said he looked awful at the start of
the year, but to his credit, he has really really
picked it up to end the season. So he looks
like somebody you can have in that middle six moving forward.
He somebody who very well looks like he's worth a
seven year deal. Apart from that, though, you also have
a lot of questions with Scott Mayfield and a seven
(02:26):
year deal, though I was pretty impressed with what he
was able to put together this year. Semyon Varlamov has
not played since November and there's some questions on whether
or not he's going to be healthy for twenty five
twenty six, but he has.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Stated in postseason interviews that.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He was going to be good to go for next season,
that he wants to be good to go and he's
going to do everything he can to make sure that
he gets back on the ice at that point, which
is pretty important considering the struggles of their third stringer.
Marcus Hogberg did have a really good stretch, started out
as their second string goalie when Varley went down. I
(03:04):
was very impressed with him, but then he just had
a real rough cold patch, especially during that last stretch
of the season. It was just something else to watch.
It's not really like you have much else in the
pipeline there with Jakobscarek and also Tristan Lennox, who, to
(03:25):
be fair, I can't really dog on him.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
He didn't get much of a fair shot.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Is one and only appearance of the season against the Rangers,
so I definitely need to see more on him before
I can really formulate an opinion.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
As far as that goes.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But there was definitely some work that needs to be
done for these guys, for sure, because really there's nothing
else in the pipeline as of right now.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I mean, yeah, you got Cali Richie back from Colorado.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
He looks promising as hell, really hoping he can make
an impact as soon as next season, if not the
season after twenty six twenty seven. You got Cole Isierman
as well. He looks really freaking promising. He's definitely gonna
be somebody to build around as well. But then you
also got guys like Matt Maggio, Alex Jeffries, and I
(04:21):
guess which you technically count Isaiah George in there too.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I mean, he looked really good on the island.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But they had too many defensemens, so he's more or
less had to spend most of the time in Bridgeport,
which you know, can't really fault him for. It's just
that they also got guys like Tony Diangelos, got Perinovich,
Adam Bokvist. Can't really fault him for that one. I
am hoping to see a more consistent role for Isaiah George,
(04:49):
who I met at the draft of Montreal by the
way in twenty twenty two, really rooting for him to
get more of a fair shot on the island in
twenty five twenty six. Of course, I'm going to be
rooting for the rest of the boys as a new
era begins to dawn here with lou Lamorello no longer
employed by the New York Islanders. So definitely very bittersweet
(05:15):
for sure, him being the right jam at the right
time in twenty eighteen, but being past his expiration date.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I mean, you can say, what do you want.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
About lose recent track record, but post dynasty, he has
given the Islanders more success than.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They have had in any other era.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I mean, he brought them to the brink of the
Stanley Cup finals not once, but two years in a row,
made the playoffs I believe five of his seven years
as the GM Now granted the last two were first
round exits, but still at the exact same time, that's
still a damn good run. Given the dark ages that
(05:55):
this franchise has been through since the Dynasty, well with
the John Spano years, Charles Wong's mismanagement of the team
at times, Mike Milberry rest in peace of the Lake
Ray Charles Wong, by the way, Compared to those times,
this is basically our golden age right here, and this
is definitely gonna be something to build upon as long
(06:17):
as they can just nail the GM higher. Now, who
exactly they target, whether or not it's going to be
somebody who's experienced at the job or giving it to
a first timer, is really anybody's guess, is it?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Right now? One thing I do not want to see.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
For the love of God, please do not hire his son,
Chris Limorello to run the team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Please please please do not. Have you seen the way
he is run Bridgeport into the ground? I believe their
worst season.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
In their history, And you really think he's gonna be
capable of running an NHL team, Just if you're gonna
send one Lamarello out the door, send the other one.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Just please do.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And if you really think Patrick Waugh should stay as
the head coach of the team, then I don't know,
maybe you haven't been paying enough attention to the team,
because his actions of the past couple of games look
like he just is ready to go. And the more
I've seen from him down the stretch, the more I
can see why he has not landed a single NHL
(07:22):
head coaching job since he resigned from Colorado in twenty sixteen.
So don't be surprised if you see a new hire,
but behind the bench as well, because his recent actions
show me that he's just given up and that he
might very well be ready to go. Either way, it
will be the correct decision. Just hoping that they can
nail the GM HighRes and go from there. I'm sure
(07:45):
we'll know in the coming days who exactly they're gonna
try to target as the next GM. See some more
rumors pop up around Elmont in the coming days. It's
really anybody's guests right now. Operating partner John Collins is
going to be leading that search, so we'll see how
it goes. But one thing is for certain to day,
(08:08):
a new era has dawned on Long Island, and I'll
be back to talk more about it as we know.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
More here on PEG's perspective.
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