Once the playoffs get underway and the eliminated teams have completed their end-of-season media availabilities, we start seeing movement behind the bench and in the head offices.

We’ve seen the Anaheim Ducks and the New York Rangers part ways with their coaches last weekend, with the Seattle Kraken making changes behind the bench after firing Dan Bylsma and in their upper management, elevating Ron Francis to President of Hockey Operations and promoting Jason Botterill to General Manager.

But yesterday, we saw the New York Islanders join the mix and make a move in their front office.

We’ll break that down and what it potentially means for the Vancouver Canucks.

On Tuesday morning, the New York Islanders announced that they’ve decided not to renew the contract of long-time NHL journeyman General Manager Lou Lamoriello.

New York announced that Operations Partner John Collins will lead the search for the next General Manager. They also released this statement in their press release:

“The Islanders extend a heartfelt thank you to Lou Lamoriello for his extraordinary commitment over the past seven years. His dedication to the team is in line with his Hall of Fame career.”

Lamoriello started his executive career in 1987, when he was named Team President of the New Jersey Devils. He spent the following 28 seasons in New Jersey, 27 of which were as General Manager. During his tenure as GM, the Devils made the playoffs in 22 of those 27 seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals five times: winning in 1995, 2000, and 2003, and losing in 2001 and 2012.

After so much success, Lamoriello stepped down as GM, passing the torch to the now-late Ray Shero, but would remain with the organization as Team President. That lasted just a few months before he resigned from his role with the Devils and took the GM job of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He would spend the following three seasons in Toronto, where they would make the playoffs in two of his three seasons, both resulting in first-round knockouts. In what was a similar situation to how his time ended in New Jersey, Lamoriello was asked to stay on as a Special Advisor. However, that would only last a few months before he was offered the President of Hockey Operations job of the Islanders.

And just two weeks into his time in New York, Lamoriello cleaned house, firing both Head Coach Doug Weight and GM Garth Snow, appointing himself as the new GM.

In New York, Lamoriello would turn the Islanders around. After missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for two straight seasons, Lamoriello brought the Islanders back into a playoff spot for five of his seven seasons. They did not make the Stanley Cup Finals under Lamoriello, but they took the Tampa Bay Lightning to Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the two seasons they won the Stanley Cup – pretty impressive for a team that lacked a true superstar.

We highlight this to demonstrate the level of success Lamoriello has achieved throughout his 38-year career as GM among various stops. Which leads us to our next point.

With all that success, you don’t ever want to lose it. And at the prime age of 82, going through a rebuild doesn’t sound appetizing. So, now that the Islanders have somewhat reached that mushy-middle, where they aren’t contenders, but also aren’t bad enough to earn themselves a top pick in the draft, what is their true direction?

The Islanders have one of the oldest rosters in the league. They have just Mat Barzal (28), Maxim Tsyplakov (27) and Simon Holmstrom (24) who will be under the age of 30 in their top-nine forward corps heading into next season. Anders Lee (35), Casey Cizikas (34), JG Pageau (32), Bo Horvat (30), Anthony Duclair (30), and, if he re-signs, Kyle Palmieri (34) round out that forward group.

However, they do have some youth on the backend, with Noah Dobson (25), Alexander Romanov (25) and a potentially re-signed Adam Boqvist (25). Ryan Pulock (30), Adam Pelech (31) and Scott Mayfield (32) round out their top-six defencemen.

If your team is in the mushy-middle with young players as they strive toward developing as a group and have the promise to make the NHL playoffs in the coming years, then it’s acceptable until you get there. However, if you find yourself in this situation with an aging core, you’ve now lost your direction and need a change.

Lamiorello was going to continue to buy into his aging core. But the Islanders couldn’t afford to do that anymore. So what does this mean for the Canucks?

Well, it might be premature to say the Islanders need a full rebuild. They have some promising prospects in the pipeline. Recently acquired in the Brock Nelson trade, Calum Ritchie (70 points in 47 games), and home-growing talent in 2024 first-round pick Cole Eiserman (36 points in 39 games) and 2023 second-round pick Danny Nelson (26 points in 36 games).

But outside of them, that’s really it.

They need to rebuild their shelves. And how do you do that? Trade some of your players who might be out of their prime by the time those prospects are ready to play. Not only will that help restock the pipeline with more players that will fit that competitive window, but it will also likely lead to you playing poorly to grab a higher pick in what is projected to be a strong 2026-2027 draft.

That’s where the Canucks come into play. A team that desperately needs to revamp its forward corps, and more importantly, its centre ice position.

Could a homecoming make sense for either Mat Barzal or Bo Horvat? Both have trade protection, with Barzal carrying a 22-team no-trade clause and Horvat having a full no-trade clause. So both players would have to want to come to Vancouver. However, at their ages, they might not want to stick around for a rebuild and might be more inclined to waive to win.

Jim Rutherford came out and said they would likely need to go through the trade route to help fix their centre position. He also mentioned how they’ve done a great job of not shipping off their young players. But does that change this season with how expensive it’s going to be? Was that all a hint from Rutherford as to what they’re planning on doing this offseason? Maybe trading a certain unsigned NCAA right-shot defenceman?

These two teams could be ideal trade partners, with a new face on the horizon who will likely seek to make changes as the Islanders transition toward the future.