Lou Lamoriello has been around the league long enough to know a good pitch when he hears one.
That’s exactly what brought him to the New York Islanders, where he’ll serve as president of hockey operations. Lamoriello was officially named to the position on Tuesday, about three weeks after the announcement that he wouldn’t continue as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He described the series of events that took him out of Toronto and into New York during a Prime Time Sports radio appearance on Tuesday:
“What transpired, from my understanding, is that sometime during the playoffs Scott Malkin, the majority owner of the Islanders, called [Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment chairman] Larry Tanenbaum and asked permission if he could speak to me once the season’s playoffs were over. Nothing was granted or seen at that point, to my knowledge,” Lamoriello explained. “And then once we finished the playoffs … both Larry and Brendan spoke to me and said that this call came in and what would be my thoughts on that. I said I really had none, would not even want to think about it at this point, as we’d just finished the season. It just allowed it to be just put aside because at that time I wasn’t thinking of anything. I had made a commitment to Toronto, I understood what my commitment was, and was going to think towards that.”
That commitment was a seven-year contract, signed back in 2015, which specified he’d spend three seasons as GM in Toronto followed by four as a senior adviser if he wished to stay with the organization.
“And then for whatever reason, those conversations I guess came again and again and Larry [Tanenbaum] spoke to me personally and I said I should talk out of respect to Mr. Malkin, and I did,” Lamoriello explained. “He spent quite a bit of time with me on the phone and then I met him in person and he really sold me on what his vision was, the commitment that he is giving and what he wants to do with the Islanders. He wanted me to come in and just take over the total hockey operations with no interference — and of course, that’s music to my ears. It just made me feel that this something I should consider … look at it, and say, ‘this is great’ or ‘this is not good.’ Over the last week or so, came to the decision that I’m excited about. I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait to get going.”
Meanwhile, he has since been replaced by Kyle Dubas, who was promoted — according to the script penned by president Brendan Shanahan — from his previous post as assistant GM. Was Lamoriello disappointed by the Maple Leafs’ decision not to retain him as GM in Toronto?
“I don’t get disappointed,” he said. “I allow things to happen as they happen. Things that I don’t have control of, I don’t get upset, I don’t get disappointed, I don’t think left or right. I just go forward. Because what I ask our players and our staff and our coaches to do and my family to do is not get distracted by things you can’t control. So in saying that, that’s exactly what I did. I accepted whatever decision was made, didn’t think left or right, and was ready to go forward.”
Now Lamoriello assumes control over “every part of the organization” in New York — including the team’s new arena in the works at Belmont Park after having their bid approved in December. He’ll also be working alongside his son, Chris Lamoriello, who is currently serving as the club’s assistant GM.
The first orders of business in his new gig now will be determining what the future holds for GM Garth Snow, head coach Doug Weight, and prized UFA-to-be John Tavares. In typical Lamoriello style, however, the front office veteran didn’t show his cards on any of these decisions.
“I know both of them and what I will do is to do what is necessary, spend the time, listen, see exactly where things are at, not allow the outside to sort of determine what’s right,” Lamoriello said of Snow and Weight. “But we’ll make whatever decisions are necessary at the appropriate time.”
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As for Tavares, he would neither confirm nor deny the reported meeting between him and the player that was rumoured to have happened recently.
“When it comes to players, agents, or anything else — and don’t interpret this as either confirming or denying — I don’t talk about, don’t allow myself to get in the middle of it,” he said. “But don’t confirm or deny that there was such that happened.”
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