Why Brendan Shanahan Could Be a Perfect Fit for the Islanders

As the days continue to roll on, the New York Islanders’ vacancies for President of Hockey Operations and General Manager continue to loom. This week, Jarmo Kekalainen, Marc Bergevin, and Mathieu Darche all interviewed for the GM chair.

While ownership carefully combs through those candidates for that job, none of those three would be granted the President of Hockey Operations (PoHo) title. Thus far, the top two choices for the Islanders will not be coming to Long Island. Ken Holland spurned the Islanders for Los Angeles, while Jeff Gorton never really became available.

One candidate for the President chair could become available as soon as tomorrow. That candidate is Brendan Shanahan, the current President of Hockey Operations of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s served as their head executive since 2014. During that time, he hired Lou Lamoriello as GM.

Why Shanahan?

That alone makes him appealing. With over a decade of experience in one of the most demanding front offices, along with potential experience with Lamoriello, who could stick around, make Shanahan extremely appealing. Add in the fact that Shanahan ended his career with the New Jersey Devils. Shanahan’s final career year of playing in New Jersey featured this coaching staff:

Islanders Hall-of-Famer Brent Sutter as Head Coach, with current Islanders’ assistants John MacLean and Tommy Albelin serving as assistants. You really can’t make that up. Whether or not Shanahan would keep them is irrelevant. He already knows who he’s dealing with. On the executive side, Lamoriello and Jacques Lemaire, currently listed as a Special Assignment Coach, worked for Shanahan in Toronto. Islanders asisstant GM Steve Pellegrini? You bet he worked in New Jersey throughout Shanahan’s final playing days.

What about elite European scouting ace Jim Paliafito? He worked in Toronto under Lamoriello and Shanahan. The list could go on forever. The fact that Shanahan could walk into the building and know virtually every single face, how they work, and who he’d want to keep is a gigantic advantage over everyone else in this race. The Islanders have 13 people listed on their website under Coaches and Management. Shanahan has direct experience with over half of them.

There is no other candidate you can find who can immediately enter and have direct experience with virtually every key figure involved in the organization. The Islanders won’t be hiring a new face until next week at the earliest, already a prolonged search.

That ability to not have a prolonged get-to-know-everyone phase after hiring is a massive advantage to potentially hiring Shanahan. As stated, he knows who he’d be dealing with. He’d know who to keep around, where to assign them, and more. It’s a perfect transitional fit for right now, all while he boasts an elite résumé.

Status of Shanahan:

Shanahan remains under contract as of this morning. His contract expires this season. His Maple Leafs face elimination tonight against the Florida Panthers. If they fail to come back from 3-2 down against the defending Champions, it’s widely known he will likely not return to Toronto.

Immediately, he’d become the best executive to shake loose for the President title since this search began. Toronto has been the class of the league during the majority of Shanahan’s tenure, with the major exception being the failure in the playoffs. Winning just three second-round games is a cause for concern.

But for the President title, what he does goes far beyond that. He turned Toronto from an unmitigated tire fire under previous regimes into an incredibly stable environment, fostering multiple Hall of Fame-level players. He helped pry John Tavares away from Long Island.

Shanahan could play a big role in potentially helping the Islanders land a marquee free agent, thanks to that Tavares experience. Conveniently, Mitch Marner is a pending UFA. He’d check all the boxes for the Islanders, and Shanahan would know him extremely well.

But let’s not get too far ahead of things. Toronto remains alive in the NHL Playoffs right now. They play tonight at 8 p.m. on the East Coast. If they don’t survive, Shanahan’s officially on the clock.

If he is available, he’s a slam-dunk candidate for the President of Hockey Operations for the New York Islanders.