One Front Office Member Who Needs To Be Retained

The New York Islanders are knee-deep in candidates for their next team president and/or general manager positions. While the front office is expected to undergo serious change, there should be some holdovers from Lou Lamoriello’s hires.

The most important of those is Jim Paliafito. Paliafito is currently listed as the Islanders’ Director of Professional European Scouting and the Director of College Free Agent Scouting. He’s been with the Islanders since Lamoriello hired him in 2022 away from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Paliafito’s best work with the Islanders comes in the form of Maxim Tsyplakov. The Russian signed with the Islanders almost solely due to the work Paliafito did recruiting him. Tsyplakov scored 10 goals and 35 points in his rookie season with the Islanders. It’s known that the Islanders hold a keen interest in Maxim Shabanov, a free agent at the end of his season in the KHL.

Paliafito brought players like Alexander Barabanov, Ilya Mikheyev, and Nikita Zaitsev to Toronto during his tenure there. He’s highly successful and a very valuable piece to have in any front office.

In terms of college signings, this season he had a hand in signing players like Gleb Veremyev to the club, someone who the team has NHL hopes for in the future.

Paliafito’s impact with European Free Agents is important. He’s brought NHL regulars over for a decade now, something most teams struggle to do. Add in a new skill of recruiting college free agents to the team, and it becomes a slam dunk to keep the veteran scout aboard.