Around the League - 2022 offseason thread

[Goptor]

He took over a very successful AHL squad and it just fell apart.

Part of it wasn't his fault - sure. That was when the Devils scouting started to fail and those teams were thin on prospects. Still, he didn't bring in the right veterans to keep the team competitive and they ended up moving all over NY during his brief tenure there.

He has been floating around front offices for 20 years since then so he certainly has the experience needed...

 

[Guttersniped]

Wasn't Chris with the Islanders long before Lou?

He was hired as Director of Player Personnel in 2016-17 while Snow and Wang (sort of) were still there, after the new ownership started hiring more staff. (Staff was skeletal in the late Wang period.)

Everyone knew Lou was leaving Toronto after his 3 year deal was up. When Chris was made AGM of NYI and GM of Bridgeport it was obviously to set it for Lou to come in.

Did they hire Chris in 2016-17 with that in mind? Maybe? Probably?

Snow got no zero managerial support, when he had AGM they were just young scouts who got promoted from within. Chris likely helped bring some professionalism to what had been a woefully understaffed team that was beefing up while the change in ownership happened.

I doubt he’s a village idiot or something but Company Executives don’t have their children succeed them in top roles. It’s just bizarre but the NHL is weird and insular and rift with an old boys club/nepotism.

I'm pretty sure Hockey's Future at one point had Chistov as the #1 rated prospect.


Hey I think Ray had a father GM too

Fred Shero was a HC of the Flyers and Rangers.

 

[JimEIV]

Fred Shero was a HC of the Flyers and Rangers.

He was also a Ranger GM. And was the GM for their 79 cup appearance vs Montreal.

 

[My3Sons]

He was also a Ranger GM. And was the GM for their 79 cup appearance vs Montreal.

Nickname was The Fog if memory serves.

 

[JimEIV]

Nickname was The Fog if memory serves.

I had to look that up...I didn't recall that to be honest...

"Freddie the Fog"

But I just saw this quote from him... I heard it before and love it.

"When someone who was always called a kook starts being called an innovator, it means he's not being very innovating anymore," Shero said in 1975.

 

[Bleedred]

I actually had no idea Conte's son was ever a scout for us, or was even involved in hockey at all.

I don't know how I missed that one back in the day. I would think I would have had some kind of recollection of talking about how he even brought his son onboard. I just didn't even realize that until just now. I couldn't tell you who about 90% of our scouts are/were anyway.

As for Chris Lamoriello, perhaps he won't be that bad of a GM? Maybe he really is qualified? I don't know, might seem wishful thinking.

I actually didn't think he'd be the successor to Lou, but I have a hard time seeing Lou step down on his own, unless they do the same thing to him there that we did to him here and make it look like he just ''Retired'' or ''Stepped aside'' and in that case I thought they'd hand it over to someone that wasn't his son. Maybe Lou is currently already planning on stepping aside and retiring after this year and on his own terms? Hasn't it been said that he currently does not have a contract for next year?

Chris does predate Lou in the organization though, even though it's really easy to forget that.

 

[JimEIV]

I actually had no idea Conte's son was ever a scout for us, or was even involved in hockey at all.

I don't know how I missed that one back in the day. I would think I would have had some kind of recollection of talking about how he even brought his son onboard. I just didn't even realize that until just now. I couldn't tell you who about 90% of our scouts are/were anyway.

As for Chris Lamoriello, perhaps he won't be that bad of a GM? Maybe he really is qualified? I don't know, might seem wishful thinking.

I actually didn't think he'd be the successor to Lou, but I have a hard time seeing Lou step down on his own, unless they do the same thing to him there that we did to him here and make it look like he just ''Retired'' or ''Stepped aside'' and in that case I thought they'd hand it over to someone that wasn't his son. Maybe Lou is currently already planning on stepping aside and retiring after this year and on his own terms? Hasn't it been said that he currently does not have a contract for next year?

Chris does predate Lou in the organization though, even though it's really easy to forget that.

Chris graduated from Providence the same year I graduated Northeastern....I remember two years later he was scout for New Jersey...And I was like I know I have seen, played and been involved with more hockey that he has. And I bet my GPA was better too

 

[Guttersniped]

He was also a Ranger GM. And was the GM for their 79 cup appearance vs Montreal.

I always forget GM stuff, I don’t think their are any AGM under their dad and I can’t even come up with other examples of guys working for their GM Dad’s in higher end positions. I know so must be missing some obvious ones.

Relatives to all sorts of people pop up in scouting jobs. Kyle Shero is listed as a scout with the Devils from 2018-21, he started straight out of College. He’s a scout with Columbus now.

Chris Lameriello is just fascinating because he started on that scouting job out of college in 1994-95 and he’s only worked separately from his father for two years since.

And his separate jobs, at least in the second season, were about setting the stage for his father to come work on his new team.

This isn’t the family business, typically guys work elsewhere for awhile at least. Brian Poile ran a different team’s AHL club for 3 years. And the Poiles are the other extraordinary example here.

Lou hasn’t had a managerial tree until now, which speaks to how much he’s been a one man show. Stephen Pellegrini is the his cap guy, he got hired after the cap kicked Lou’s ass after the 2004-05 lock-out, I don’t know what he does beyond that.

 

[Brodeur]

I actually had no idea Conte's son was ever a scout for us, or was even involved in hockey at all.

Vaguely recall he was the one who was the main voice for Miles Wood during his draft year.

----------------



He was slated to be Winnipeg's #3 goalie. Maybe good news for the handful of AHL vets who were on PTOs still looking to land a gig.

 

[Bone Density]

Come on BJ's, you know you want to unite the Boqvist brothers. We'll just take Tarasov back. Thank you.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Keith Kincaid available on waivers.

 

[MadDevil]

Keith Kincaid available on waivers.

Well we were just talking about Grandma Geerty, let's add Uncle Kinkaid to the mix too.

 

[JrFischer54]

I’ve been practically obsessed Chris Lamoriello since forever, I’m practically shaking with excitement with this news lol. And it’s the f***ing Islanders too. It’s just too glorious and perfect.



It feels like a Wang move too, I guess his DNA is imprinted into the team or something.

Good lord. I thought Poile might pull off getting his son to inherit his job in Nashville, even though that’s super f***ing weird, but props to Lou (if this actually happens, please reality don’t screw it up).

I mean, Chris’ only claim to fame is being a GM of unsuccessful AHL teams for his dad and… doing whatever else Lou let’s him do I guess, and now his Dad will install him as his successor even though he’s only been on the Island since 2018.

Maybe this is the reward for extending Barzal lol.



@Bleedred started it, I just made it R-rated

If Chris does take over this really just means Lou will still be calling the shots until he’s in his grave. I wouldn’t be surprised is this is the plan to do they don’t have a super super old guy running the show publicly

 

[JrFischer54]

It’s pretty remarkable that Lou has arguably been able to live off 3 names for his entire career. Esp considering that 2 of those 3 stopped playing for him almost 20 years ago lol

 

[markog]

It’s pretty remarkable that Lou has arguably been able to live off 3 names for his entire career. Esp considering that 2 of those 3 stopped playing for him almost 20 years ago lol

That can be said for every GM. We'll see in 15 years if Brisebois will continue to win Cup's for fun.

 

[HBK27]

If Chris does take over this really just means Lou will still be calling the shots until he’s in his grave. I wouldn’t be surprised is this is the plan to do they don’t have a super super old guy running the show publicly

Who knows if Chris would be the best person for the job, but he would seem to be highly qualified as he's been working towards this for a very long time. Yes, having Lou as his dad certainly got his foot in the door, but why would we automatically assume he's any worse than say a former player with little management experience?

It’s pretty remarkable that Lou has arguably been able to live off 3 names for his entire career. Esp considering that 2 of those 3 stopped playing for him almost 20 years ago lol

Stop. Just stop. Arguing that Lou's success was just Brodeur, Stevens & Niedermayer is one of the absolute dumbest takes I've seen here.

 

[Guttersniped]

Who knows if Chris would be the best person for the job, but he would seem to be highly qualified as he's been working towards this for a very long time. Yes, having Lou as his dad certainly got his foot in the door, but why would we automatically assume he's any worse than say a former player with little management experience?

Foot in the door? He’s worked the entire time with his Dad, who’s otherwise been a one man show, who works with no other executives and has no managerial tree. (He was forced to play with others in Toronto for 3 years and it did not work out well.)

He’s an executive. If you are replacing him you have a job search where you interview candidates. The idea that Chris f***ing Lameriello will just get handed the GM job because his dad wants that to happen is ridiculous.

It’s so ridiculous that I really think this is more just a rumor. That might be my brain rejecting the absurdity of it, I made jokes about this happening for years.

It’s genuinely hilarious to me though and the perfect team for it too.

 

[HBK27]

Foot in the door? He’s worked the entire time with his Dad, who’s otherwise been a one man show, who works with no other executives and has no managerial tree. (He was forced to play with others in Toronto for 3 years and it did not work out well.)

He’s an executive. If you are replacing him you have a job search where you interview candidates. The idea that Chris f***ing Lameriello will just get handed the GM job because his dad wants that to happen is ridiculous.

It’s so ridiculous that I really think this is more just a rumor. That might be my brain rejecting the absurdity of it, I made jokes about this happening for years.

It’s genuinely hilarious to me though and the perfect team for it too.

I 100% agree with the bolded.

The general perception though (as far as I can tell) is that because his last name is Lamoriello and he's following his (hall of fame as a GM) dad around throughout his career is that he's some Fredo that's just been leaching off his dad's success and was not qualified to hold the positions he's had. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not - impossible for us to tell as such a distance. I'm just saying that in theory, were he to become the next Islanders GM he may actually be very qualified and in fact the best person to hold that position. I think many others would just automatically assume that it was purely because of nepotism and he was handed that position. I'm just saying that may not actually be the case.

I don't know who owns the Islanders or how'd they'd make that decision, but I don't think they'd just be hoodwinked by Lou to just pass the reigns to his son without good reason. Chris has basically spent his entire career working towards an NHL GM position, so at the very least he's probably rather qualified. Ultimately, I'd be surprised if it happened because of the optics but the view that Chris Lamoriello is unqualified and is purely the product of nepotism may not be accurate. If it was, I think we would've heard some rumblings by now about him being put in positions that he was not qualified for.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Nepotism nepotism, rah rah rah!
Nepotism nepotism, sis boom bah!

Thinking ahead about Bratt’s deal, Robertson bridge is interesting.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Guttersniped]

Nepotism nepotism, rah rah rah!
Nepotism nepotism, sis boom bah!

Thinking ahead about Bratt’s deal, Robertson bridge is interesting.

Ha, I just remembered Brad Holland was just named the Oilers’ AGM this off-season. I knew I forgot someone (I might be forgetting more lol.)

He did several of the classic steps: job somewhere else first (a step Chris skipped) and the classic scout/intern job. He rose through the ranks real quick though lol.

Edmonton is the perfect place for this too, it’s ultimate Old Boys Club circle jerk (apologies to more imaginative readers for the unfortunate mental picture).

 

[Triumph]

I 100% agree with the bolded.

The general perception though (as far as I can tell) is that because his last name is Lamoriello and he's following his (hall of fame as a GM) dad around throughout his career is that he's some Fredo that's just been leaching off his dad's success and was not qualified to hold the positions he's had. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not - impossible for us to tell as such a distance. I'm just saying that in theory, were he to become the next Islanders GM he may actually be very qualified and in fact the best person to hold that position. I think many others would just automatically assume that it was purely because of nepotism and he was handed that position. I'm just saying that may not actually be the case.

I don't know who owns the Islanders or how'd they'd make that decision, but I don't think they'd just be hoodwinked by Lou to just pass the reigns to his son without good reason. Chris has basically spent his entire career working towards an NHL GM position, so at the very least he's probably rather qualified. Ultimately, I'd be surprised if it happened because of the optics but the view that Chris Lamoriello is unqualified and is purely the product of nepotism may not be accurate. If it was, I think we would've heard some rumblings by now about him being put in positions that he was not qualified for.

Who would we hear that from and why? When have you ever heard anyone in a front office called incompetent? The one time I remember it is when Paul Fenton was the GM of the Wild, but otherwise it is exceptionally rare, and unheard of for executives below the GM level. As an AGM who runs a minor league team, Chris is handcuffed by the drafting and choices of the big club. I remember him being called responsible for finding Matt Lorito, who had a nice career as a 1st/2nd line AHLer.

 

[NJDevs26]

If Chris wants to make his own name let him be a GM for one of the other 31 NHL teams. If he does follow Lou without getting another NHL GM job before that then he will have to accept that people are going to dismiss it as pure nepotism and cronyism.

 

[Omar Little]

Weegar deal is helpful in setting framework for a Severson deal

 

[glenwo2]

They’re actually lucky Pavelski is still playing like he’s 10-12 years younger than he is.

He's a freak of nature and I wonder if he drank from the same fountain of youth as Jagr....