Elliotte Friedman believes New York Islanders making 'bad' decision regarding GM hiring - "Lot of craziness around this"

NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman believes the New York Islanders are making a 'bad' decision in their search for a new general manager. The Islanders are reportedly considering hiring Marc Bergevin and Mathieu Darche as co-general managers, following their decision not to renew Lou Lamoriello’s contract.

Friedman shared his comments on his "32 Thoughts" podcast on Wednesday.

"I did hear the rumor that was kind of floating around on Monday of co-GMs maybe Marc Bergevin and Darche. There's been a lot of craziness around this. So, I don't know how much stock I really put in that.”

“I would say this, though that is a bad idea. I was just gonna say, there's a reason why we don't see that”.

He pointed to past failed attempts by the Islanders themselves in the 2005-06 season with Neil Smith and Pat LaFontaine, as well as the Dallas Stars' short-lived co-GM structure with Les Jackson and Brett Hull in 2007.

According to Friedman, "you have to have one decision maker," and splitting GM duties between two people causes problems. He believes the Islanders would be better served hiring a sole general manager, whether that's Bergevin, Darche or someone else.

Bergevin offers 10 years of general manager experience from his tenure with the Montreal Canadiens from 2012 to 2022. Meanwhile, Darche climbed the front office ranks with Tampa and held the role of assistant GM during the 2022–23 season.

Frank Seravalli's take on the New York Islanders' GM hiring

According to hockey insider Frank Seravalli, the New York Islanders' search for a new general manager appears to be down to the same two leading candidates: Mark Bergevin and Mathieu Darche. Seravalli cautions that there could still be a surprise late entrant in the mix.

"There might be a another late entrant or a stalking horse, so to speak," Seravalli told Daily Faceoff on Wednesday.

"Sources suggest that if we were to handicap it at this point right now, fittingly, the horse racing metaphor because they arena backs up to Belmont Park is that it’s a two horse race between Mark Bergervin and Mathieu Darche."

Both have had multiple interviews with the Islanders. Seravalli says each understands they are finalists, and the team has gone back and forth between them. The Islanders are taking their time making a decision on this critical front office hire.