Confirmed with Link: Lou Lamoriello wins 2019-20 the Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award

[Newsworthy]

Is a GM's job to impress pundits or to get results? Because I feel like Lou's results this year were good. Maybe you feel they weren't, and that is cool too, but acting like a GM should be judged based on what others think the team will do rather than what it actually does seems to be missing the forest for the trees, imo.

The problem I have with Lou is the fact that we are one of the oldest teams in the NHL and lack firepower.
Also we have one of the worst prospect pools in the league. Any GM can trade 1st and 2nd rd picks for rental players and sign third and fourth liners.
The Islanders success should be attributed mostly to Trotz and his coaching staff.

 

[Throttle]

The young team he was building up North was trending in the right direction when he brought in some old dudes. The old man was told to leave, the young man got rid of the old dudes old dudes, brought in more young dudes and are directionless. In need of old dudes. The old dude goes to new team, brings in old dudes to help guide young dudes, those dudes, well are trending in the right direction each year the old dude has been here. Sometimes, you need old dudes in the office and on the ice. You also need a wise man. Old dude brought in wise man in both places. Young dudes didn't like wise man in old place, brought in young not-so wise man. Wise man with old dude seems to be doing just fine.

 

[Seph]

The problem I have with Lou is the fact that we are one of the oldest teams in the NHL and lack firepower.
Also we have one of the worst prospect pools in the league. Any GM can trade 1st and 2nd rd picks for rental players and sign third and fourth liners.
The Islanders success should be attributed mostly to Trotz and his coaching staff.

That's weird, I thought the head coach and coaching staff was one of the GM's responsibilities.

 

[doublechili]

That's weird, I thought the head coach and coaching staff was one of the GM's responsibilities.

Not if you're trying to knock Lou down and prop Snow up. Disconnecting the GM and the coach serves well in that case.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Imagine you get a GM job and you walk right into a situation where you need to replace basically the entire coaching staff and deal with the franchise player walking away for nothing while two of the returning top-5 Dmen are UFAs and all but gone.

Result: Make the playoffs and win a round.

Then the next offseason, four of the team's most important pieces are UFAs and ALL of them are top two line players. You manage to replace one by grabbing a similar replacement that also allows you to rake in your most difficult and important prospect to sign AND, despite making the best financial pitch to the singlemost important UFA on the market to fill your biggest need - and swinging out to the archrival nonetheless - you still get the other three signed on deals they were each getting on the open market anyways.

Result: Make the playoffs, win three rounds, lose 4-2 to SC champs in the Conference Finals.

Now, despite all your work, the shortened offseason is handicapped due to a new global pandemic reality AND a stagnant cap right at a time where you've got hardly any cap space to sign three key RFAs, who are also top 2-line players, and next to no productive trading options to create that cap space thanks to the aforementioned offseason realities.

This is Lou's third offseason since he joined the Islanders and he's "cleaning up" again.

All this guy has been doing is cleaning up.

And no matter what anyone thinks about the moves made along the way in dealing with that, his work has accumulated to levels of success that Islander fans have been devoid of for decades.

It's amazing that this guy has detractors....

 

[MJF]

Imagine you get a GM job and you walk right into a situation where you need to replace basically the entire coaching staff and deal with the franchise player walking away for nothing while two of the returning top-5 Dmen are UFAs and all but gone.

Result: Make the playoffs and win a round.

Then the next offseason, four of the team's most important pieces are UFAs and ALL of them are top two line players. You manage to replace one by grabbing a similar replacement that also allows you to rake in your most difficult and important prospect to sign AND, despite making the best financial pitch to the singlemost important UFA on the market to fill your biggest need - and swinging out to the archrival nonetheless - you still get the other three signed on deals they were each getting on the open market anyways.

Result: Make the playoffs, win three rounds, lose 4-2 to SC champs in the Conference Finals.

Now, despite all your work, the shortened offseason is handicapped due to a new global pandemic reality AND a stagnant cap right at a time where you've got hardly any cap space to sign three key RFAs, who are also top 2-line players, and next to no productive trading options to create that cap space thanks to the aforementioned offseason realities.

This is Lou's third offseason since he joined the Islanders and he's "cleaning up" again.

All this guy has been doing is cleaning up.

And no matter what anyone thinks about the moves made along the way in dealing with that, his work has accumulated to levels of success that Islander fans have been devoid of for decades.

It's amazing that this guy has detractors....

But...but...but CAP SPACE.

 

[Newsworthy]

A big part of the reason the team has a lack of cap space is because of overpaying free agents.
No way does Anders Lee and Leo deserve those contracts and Hickey should never been signed to a new contract at all.
Losing a key free agent (John Tavares) and striking out on another (Panarin) should not be considered a positive for the GM because they advanced in the playoffs.
I could make an argument that this team would have beat the Lightning if they had those players. In a way Panarin is exactly what this team lacks.
Lou has still yet to address our biggest need which is scoring. Our PP is still a huge problem and he has has had two seasons to fix it.
We are a veteran team and our prospect pool is unimpressive.
That is the problem I have with Lou.
What has he done to make this team younger and more skillful?

 

[DerekKingSnipes]

A big part of the reason the team has a lack of cap space is because of overpaying free agents.
No way does Anders Lee and Leo deserve those contracts and Hickey should never been signed to a new contract at all.
Losing a key free agent (John Tavares) and striking out on another (Panarin) should not be considered a positive for the GM because they advanced in the playoffs.
I could make an argument that this team would have beat the Lightning if they had those players. In a way Panarin is exactly what this team lacks.
Lou has still yet to address our biggest need which is scoring. Our PP is still a huge problem and he has has had two seasons to fix it.
We are a veteran team and our prospect pool is unimpressive.
That is the problem I have with Lou.
What has he done to make this team younger and more skillful?

He’s drafted for skill in each of his first round picks. This team is in win now mode and I expect Lou to approach this offseason with that overall mindset. I’m not worried about getting younger it’s about winning in the next 2 or 3 years IMO.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

What has he done to make this team younger and more skillful?

Oh, is that suddenly the measure of success?

These questions you ask mean NOTHING when compared with the most important question of a GM, namely: "Is what the GM is doing getting his team closer to competing for the Stanley Cup?"

Because THAT's the question that defines each and every GM.

In Lou's case, the answer is thus far a resounding "YES"!

And that's what the decision makers for the "GM of the Year Award" clearly had in mind by giving him this award.

***
PS)
How can anyone be so shortsighted as to say Lee, our captain who sat on the sidelines while his GM made the biggest pitch on the market for his direct replacement (who was EXACTLY what this team needs - thus, kudos for giving it everything to get him), didn't actually deserve the contract he was getting on the free market anyway (and that's where it's decided whether he's a 7 x 7 player or not)?

Get f$%&ing real!

Under the circumstances, it was AMAZING that Lou managed to keep him in the fold.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

He’s drafted for skill in each of his first round picks. This team is in win now mode and I expect Lou to approach this offseason with that overall mindset. I’m not worried about getting younger it’s about winning in the next 2 or 3 years IMO.

Indeed!

We're in win-now mode and we should really be enjoying this.

We've experienced more than our fair share of "rebuild mode" the past 20 years.

YOUNGSTERS:
We've gotten a glimpse of the wonderful abilities of Dobson. We're about to see something very special in Sorokin. Both Wahlstrom and Bellows made promising debuts this past season.

And fans who are sleeping on the likes of Salo and Bolduc are in for a BIG treat when these boys are ready to be an NHL topic.

 

[MJF]

Indeed!

We're in win-now mode and we should really be enjoying this.

We've experienced more than our fair share of "rebuild mode" the past 20 years.

YOUNGSTERS:
We've gotten a glimpse of the wonderful abilities of Dobson. We're about to see something very special in Sorokin. Both Wahlstrom and Bellows made promising debuts this past season.

And fans who are sleeping on the likes of Salo and Bolduc are in for a BIG treat when these boys are ready to be an NHL topic.

Not to mention the core of players Lou has identified and building around (Barzal, Tito, Toews, Pulock, Sorokin, Dobson, Wahlstrom) are 25 years old and under.

 

[Shot of Bailey]

I have no issue with what Lou has done since arriving, but like school or work, I will offer my grade after, not before the work is done.
Season 1 - pass
Season 2 - pass
Season 3 - ?

Lou has got a tough job ahead of him and I personally don't care what someone has done in the past, it's your next moves that I'm judging as a fan. We are close, we have cap concerns, we have one of the older teams, we have a weak prospect pool....how does Lou make this team better because our window with the way this team is built is not long. We should have most of our answers in the next week. Good Luck Lou!

 

[Newsworthy]

I have no issue with what Lou has done since arriving, but like school or work, I will offer my grade after, not before the work is done.
Season 1 - pass
Season 2 - pass
Season 3 - ?

Lou has got a touch job ahead of him and I personally don't care what someone has done in the past, it's your next moves that I'm judging as a fan. We are close, we have cap concerns, we have one of the older teams, we have a weak prospect pool....how does Lou make this team better because our window with the way this team is built is not long. We should have most of our answers in the next week. Good Luck Lou!

Couldn't said it better myself other than fully approving what Lou has done. Isles are trying to win now but clearly aren't talented enough to do so.

 

[buud]

Couldn't said it better myself other than fully approving what Lou has done. Isles are trying to win now but clearly aren't talented enough to do so.

you're a comedian, right? or a Rags fan? Garth Snow???

in the words of Bloodless Biden.... "Come on man"!!

old farts like Boychuk (35), Greene (37), Ladd (34, and should not be counting), Komorov (33), are skewing the stats. THEY ARE NOT PART OF THE CORE! why don't you get that?? the core, (Pelech, Pulock, Toews, Mayfield, Leddy, Barzal, Beau, Pageau, Bailey, Eberle, Nelson, Lee, Cizikas), avg. 27.3 years old. that is a pretty good avg. Varly at 32, is not worrisome either.

they gave the eventual SC champions, what most consider, the roughest ride. but they can't win? oy vay!

now, i'm not one of those guys that worships Lou's bum droppings, but he did well to get Pageau and Greene.

and let's not forget the grand prize... Trotz.

ok, i'm not a fan of Hickey or Eberle, so i admit that LL was not perfect. but to say that they clearly aren't talented enough to win... well, that screams of a bias of some sort.

give it up man.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Oh, is that suddenly the measure of success?

These questions you ask mean NOTHING when compared with the most important question of a GM, namely: "Is what the GM is doing getting his team closer to competing for the Stanley Cup?"

Because THAT's the question that defines each and every GM.

In Lou's case, the answer is thus far a resounding "YES"!

And that's what the decision makers for the "GM of the Year Award" clearly had in mind by giving him this award.

***
PS)
How can anyone be so shortsighted as to say Lee, our captain who sat on the sidelines while his GM made the biggest pitch on the market for his direct replacement (who was EXACTLY what this team needs - thus, kudos for giving it everything to get him), didn't actually deserve the contract he was getting on the free market anyway (and that's where it's decided whether he's a 7 x 7 player or not)?

Get f$%&ing real!

Under the circumstances, it was AMAZING that Lou managed to keep him in the fold.

You get real. Lou failed on Panarin (not blaming him necessarily, he did all he could do) and signed Lee out of desperation. Genuinely laughable all of the "Lee was always going to sign with us BS" in the aftermath and it surely was impressive how everyone kept a straight face throughout. Signing Lee might have some effect on keeping us competitive for a playoff spot but does nothing to get us closer to a Stanley Cup.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

You get real. Lou failed on Panarin (not blaming him necessarily, he did all he could do) and signed Lee out of desperation. Genuinely laughable all of the "Lee was always going to sign with us BS" in the aftermath and it surely was impressive how everyone kept a straight face throughout. Signing Lee might have some effect on keeping us competitive for a playoff spot but does nothing to get us closer to a Stanley Cup.

Lol!

Lee was the captain. He knew we were shooting for a player who'd directly replace him. He knew that if he walked and Lou swung out on Panarin, it'd be a crushing blow to a franchise that already has too much of a poor image to simply watch its captain walk away for the second straight summer.

Lee and his camp got exactly what his power position brokering commanded.

The actual tangible result in Year 1 of that contract: We went from winning one round in the playoffs to making the conference finals.

Yep, not shabby.

But listen, I get what plenty of you are worried about. I know what Lee's limits are as a player and what that contract is very likely going to look like in a few years. Heck, I agree. A solution will definitely need to be found when we get to that bridge and we may get to it sooner rather than later.

But people need to save their bitching and moaning for the time when this team isn't at its highest point of success in 27 years.

Why not just enjoy it and hope that Lou continues to find ways to surprise and excel? Heck, he just might!

And when that doesn't happen, well, there'll be plenty of time and opportunity for the boo-hoo naysaying that seems to so successfully pull people out of the woodwork around these parts.

Geez, this thread alone goes to show that there seem to be some here who live solely for that anyways.

As for now, Lou is the GM of the Year. And rightfully so. Because, results.

 

[MJF]

Lol!

Lee was the captain. He knew we were shooting for a player who'd directly replace him. He knew that if he walked and Lou swung out on Panarin, it'd be a crushing blow to a franchise that already has too much of a poor image to then watch its captain walk away for the second straight summer.

Lee and his camp got exactly what his power position brokering commanded.

The actual tangible result in Year 1 of that contract: We went from winning one round in the playoffs to making the conference finals.

Yep, not shabby.

But listen, I get what plenty of you are worried about. I know what Lee's limits are as a player and what that contract is very likely going to look like in a few years. Heck, I agree. A solution will definitely need to be found when we get to that bridge and we may get to it sooner rather than later.

But people need to save their bitching and moaning for the time when this team isn't at its highest point of success in 27 years.

Why not just enjoy it and hope that Lou continues to find ways to surprise and excel? Heck, he just might!

And when that doesn't happen, well, there'll be plenty of time and opportunity for the boo-hoo naysaying that seems to so successfully pull people out of the woodwork around these parts.

Geez, this thread alone goes to show that there seem to be some here who live solely for that anyways.

It's as if the principles of George Steinbrenner live on in some of the posters here. If you aren't winning the whole thing RIGHT NOW it's a failure.

Holy Shit!!!

Incremental improvement is good enough for me. As long as we keep taking steps forward with an eye on the overall picture, I'll call them wins.

3 years with Lou Lamoriello as GM/President, 3 years of improvements.

And if we take a step backwards next year to be in a better position 2 years from now I'll be okay with that too.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Lol!

Lee was the captain. He knew we were shooting for a player who'd directly replace him. He knew that if he walked and Lou swung out on Panarin, it'd be a crushing blow to a franchise that already has too much of a poor image to then watch its captain walk away for the second straight summer.

Lee and his camp got exactly what his power position brokering commanded.

The actual tangible result in Year 1 of that contract: We went from winning one round in the playoffs to making the conference finals.

Yep, not shabby.

But listen, I get what plenty of you are worried about. I know what Lee's limits are as a player and what that contract is very likely going to look like in a few years. Heck, I agree. A solution will definitely need to be found when we get to that bridge and we may get to it sooner rather than later.

But people need to save their bitching and moaning for the time when this team isn't at its highest point of success in 27 years.

Why not just enjoy it and hope that Lou continues to find ways to surprise and excel? Heck, he just might!

And when that doesn't happen, well, there'll be plenty of time and opportunity for the boo-hoo naysaying that seems to so successfully pull people out of the woodwork around these parts.

Geez, this thread alone goes to show that there seem to be some here who live solely for that anyways.

As for now, Lou is the GM of the Year. And rightfully so. Because, results.

Dealing in reality is not boohoo naysaying nor is it bitching and moaning. You are yet another who completely discounts where this team was headed before the shutdown and only gives weight to the bubble results. You don't normally get 6 month breaks to hit the reset button and so as fun as it was, what happened there doesn't reflect the reality of an NHL season. And if you want to say every team benefitted equally, that's fine, but even if they did, and I don't agree that they did, it still didn't reflect the reality of an NHL season.

And as I've made clear, the captain stuff is a bunch of hype that means nothing. JT was our captain for years and now he's the most hated man on LI. None of us know what suitors were out there for Lee but as far as this franchise was concerned, he was expendable until he wasn't. Power brokering my ass. Lucky that he plays for a franchise where even money doesn't talk.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Dealing in reality is not boohoo naysaying nor is it bitching and moaning. You are yet another who completely discounts where this team was headed before the shutdown and only gives weight to the bubble results. You don't normally get 6 month breaks to hit the reset button and so as fun as it was, what happened there doesn't reflect the reality of an NHL season. And if you want to say every team benefitted equally, that's fine, but even if they did, and I don't agree that they did, it still didn't reflect the reality of an NHL season.

And as I've made clear, the captain stuff is a bunch of hype that means nothing. JT was our captain for years and now he's the most hated man on LI. None of us know what suitors were out there for Lee but as far as this franchise was concerned, he was expendable until he wasn't. Power brokering my ass. Lucky that he plays for a franchise where even money doesn't talk.

Boo hoo!

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

I know that my favorite team played the only playoffs the NHL held in this unique day and age, and made it to the final four, losing only to the eventual champion of those pandemic-solution playoffs.

And I friggin' love it!!!

Now we're gonna have to just wait and see what form of Covid-paralyzed NHL play the league has in store for us next. I'm sure looking forward to seeing if whatever Lamoriello puts together manages to excel and possibly take the next step there too!

I hope you're looking forward to the ride as well.

 

[Throttle]

Dealing in reality is not boohoo naysaying nor is it bitching and moaning. You are yet another who completely discounts where this team was headed before the shutdown and only gives weight to the bubble results. You don't normally get 6 month breaks to hit the reset button and so as fun as it was, what happened there doesn't reflect the reality of an NHL season. And if you want to say every team benefitted equally, that's fine, but even if they did, and I don't agree that they did, it still didn't reflect the reality of an NHL season.

And as I've made clear, the captain stuff is a bunch of hype that means nothing. JT was our captain for years and now he's the most hated man on LI. None of us know what suitors were out there for Lee but as far as this franchise was concerned, he was expendable until he wasn't. Power brokering my ass. Lucky that he plays for a franchise where even money doesn't talk.

STL was last overall in January and ended up winning the Cup. This year they were one of the better teams before the shutdown, but laid an egg in the RTP. Their common issue has been hoping/believing Jake Allen was going to be a legit reliable #1 that got them in last place in the first place, which led them to grab an ECHL guy out of desperation.

Just imagine if STL 'sold it off' in Jan/Feb...

Teams go through bad stretches...a lot of times in the middle of the season. You seem to be over relying on the principal that the Isles were absolutely going to nose dive to lotto land and there was no way the team could turn it around. That's a bit much, but that's your thing to hang onto. We will never know. Whatever a team did in the bubble, is what happened. It was a unique experience, but the team everyone expected to win in the regular season, did in fact win - they finally got over the hump. Is that marred too? You seem to be saying they are the best model. Yet, the only time they won was in the bubble...

 

[Throttle]

It's as if the principles of George Steinbrenner live on in some of the posters here. If you aren't winning the whole thing RIGHT NOW it's a failure.

Holy Shit!!!

Incremental improvement is good enough for me. As long as we keep taking steps forward with an eye on the overall picture, I'll call them wins.

3 years with Lou Lamoriello as GM/President, 3 years of improvements.

And if we take a step backwards next year to be in a better position 2 years from now I'll be okay with that too.

When Isles fans get out of fantasy land and realize the team remains HIGHLY unattractive to UFAs and has a LONG history of failure, its not a marketable franchise. If they let these guys walk, then who is coming in to cover their spot? Moreover, a new owner with a significant investment ahead of him probably wants a competitive team on the ice to, I don't know...sell tickets and put butts in the seats. Change the culture and reputation.

Yet, there's a collection of fans that just feel there's one way to build and dismiss the 30 years of building that ended up nowhere. Its interesting when these people rail on the team for not being competitive during that process always having a different door to open to complain about. Amazing how some of these folks take little enjoyment out of a franchise that's moving in the right direction and improving on the ice. Its 'he did this wrong, that wrong,' and totally dismissing what team will actually be on the ice. A collection of lotto crap for 82 games a year. Yeah!

 

[Uncle Duke]

STL was last overall in January and ended up winning the Cup. This year they were one of the better teams before the shutdown, but laid an egg in the RTP. Their common issue has been hoping/believing Jake Allen was going to be a legit reliable #1 that got them in last place in the first place, which led them to grab an ECHL guy out of desperation.

Just imagine if STL 'sold it off' in Jan/Feb...

Teams go through bad stretches...a lot of times in the middle of the season. You seem to be over relying on the principal that the Isles were absolutely going to nose dive to lotto land and there was no way the team could turn it around. That's a bit much, but that's your thing to hang onto. We will never know. Whatever a team did in the bubble, is what happened. It was a unique experience, but the team everyone expected to win in the regular season, did in fact win - they finally got over the hump. Is that marred too? You seem to be saying they are the best model. Yet, the only time they won was in the bubble...

I'm assuming no such thing. I have made it clear time and again that I don't think we were as bad as the nose dive nor as good as the bubble. But, I do think that the very poor results based on the loss of one key player are a red flag. The Trotz system, if it is in fact the system that makes it work, should not have been as vulnerable to such a precipitous meltdown. Others weathered the inevitable mid-season injury storm far better than we did.

As for the STL argument, I've heard it more times than I can count. They knew they were better than their record and even being in "last place", they were still never more than a 6 points away from a playoff spot, even with Jake Allen. There is a difference between actually being a bad team and being a team that is playing poorly. If you want to say you could make the same argument about the Isles, fair enough, I get it. We'll see.

 

[Newsworthy]

I don’t take this award too serious especially considering COVID-19 so Lou or anyone else winning it doesn’t matter to me.
Right now we aren’t even picking until round 3 of the NHL draft. So if free agents aren’t attracted to Lou or Trotz and we are not in ideal draft position than a lot of work needs to be done to compete with the big boys. It would be different if our prospects were top notch but they aren’t. I expect this team to regress but taking a step or two backward doesn’t always equate to future success.

 

[PK Cronin]

I don’t take this award too serious especially considering COVID-19 so Lou or anyone else winning it doesn’t matter to me.
Right now we aren’t even picking until round 3 of the NHL draft. So if free agents aren’t attracted to Lou or Trotz and we are not in ideal draft position than a lot of work needs to be done to compete with the big boys. It would be different if our prospects were top notch but they aren’t. I expect this team to regress but taking a step or two backward doesn’t always equate to future success.

News flash, we are part of the big boys.

 

[MJF]

I don’t take this award too serious especially considering COVID-19 so Lou or anyone else winning it doesn’t matter to me.
Right now we aren’t even picking until round 3 of the NHL draft. So if free agents aren’t attracted to Lou or Trotz and we are not in ideal draft position than a lot of work needs to be done to compete with the big boys. It would be different if our prospects were top notch but they aren’t. I expect this team to regress but taking a step or two backward doesn’t always equate to future success.

Compete with the big boys???

What was the playoffs? A mirage?