Who will be the Islanders’ GM and/or President of Hockey Operations? Everyone has an opinion on the matter.
Arthur Staple, a journalist with a lot of experience in New York, wrote a piece on the subject for The Athletic . It doesn’t mention Patrick Roy by name.
But then again, Jeff Gorton’s is. #GarsEnDemande
Is Jeff Gorton’s name going to be linked to every single GM position that becomes available? It’s nice to have someone running your team who is in demand across the league but it’s starting to get tiresome. https://t.co/KfSDtbzaBV
– HabsLinks (@HabsLinks) April 23, 2025
But the first two names in the article (Jeff Gorton is the third, for what it’s worth) are related. And we’re talking about Pat Brisson as well as Marc Bergevin, both of whom are from Quebec.
Basically, the journalist reports that in 2017, when John Tavares (Pat Brisson’s client) was a year away from autonomy, the Islanders owner tried to convince Brisson to take over the club’s field hockey operations. Brisson obviously said no, as history would have it.
Lou Lamoriello finally arrived in 2018 from Toronto… only to see Tavares leave to continue his career with the Maple Leafs.
But don’t expect the Islanders to sign Brisson to bring back Tavares this summer…
Staple reports that the Islanders owner and Brisson have stayed in touch over the years, and he wouldn’t be totally surprised to see Brisson take the job this time around.
The journalist had this to say:
Brisson might be more tempted now. – Arthur Staple
I still have my doubts as to why an agent of his caliber would want to leave job security and millions of dollars on the table to go manage… the Islanders. Not the Kings or the Golden Knights!
If he does it, it’ll really be to surpass himself as a field hockey man. After all, whatever the organization, it would be a risk.
I’m sure he’d be good (ask the Habs, Panthers or Oilers if they regret hiring Kent Hughes, Bill Zito or Jeff Jackson, Connor McDavid’s former agent), but I don’t see him making the leap. Even if it would make the Islanders more interesting.
The Staple also mentions that Marc Bergevin, a good friend of Brisson’s, is more visible than ever this year. He wonders if Bergevin could be a GM under Brisson as president.
I don’t know if I see Bergevin, who was the boss of field hockey operations in Montreal, taking on a GM position without being the main field hockey man in charge, but hey: at this point, maybe he’d say yes to being GM again.
We’ll see what happens, but I’d be surprised to see Brisson on Long Island. And that’s even if it would bring him closer to his son Brendan, a new member of the New York Rangers organization.
– Too bad.
Vancouver and Seattle would be the lucky ones for expansion teams in the LPHF
https://t.co/rrqYsmLohu
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) April 23, 2025
– Of note.
Alexeyev said he lost three teeth on the top and chipped several on the bottom. Will wear a bubble tonight. #ALLCAPS
– Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) April 23, 2025
– To be continued.
Forward Laurent Dauphin and defenseman Gustav Lindström will not participate in training today (treatment day).
Forward Laurent Dauphin and defenseman Gustav Lindström will not practice today (therapy day).
– xyz – Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) April 23, 2025
– Yes.
Should have been done long before, but better late than never. https://t.co/0zLZXzI4mS
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) April 23, 2025
– Dean Evason to lead Canada to World Championship.
Hearing @BlueJacketsNHL head coach Dean Evason will coach Canada at the upcoming Men’s World Hockey Championship. @NHLFlames coach Ryan Huska will also be on Canada’s bench. The remainder of the staff to be determined.
– Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 23, 2025
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