Snow, Weight remain with Islanders, for now

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — There was frustration and disappointment from the front office of the New York Islanders, but not much change after the final day of exit interviews wrapped up.

For now, longtime general manager Garth Snow and head coach Doug Weight will remain in their current roles. The pair told Newsday they believe they’ll be back next season, however, Islanders co-owner left that up to interpretation after delivering a prepared statement to the press.

“Our season has just ended and as an organization we will be evaluating all aspects of our hockey operations,” Ledecky said. “Then we will make decisions based on what is best for the future of our club. I am not here today to talk about any specific individuals, including players, coaches and the general manager. We believe it is essential to our success to have a thoughtful evaluation process to look at the past and more importantly assess the future of our team on and off the ice.”

Following the statement, Ledecky walked off the dais and did not take any questions from the media. Snow and Weight were sitting next to the Islander co-owner at the time.

It was the culmination of the team’s two-day exit interview process following the end of a disappointing season. Despite boasting a roster where several players recorded career years, the Islanders only finished with 80 points and seventh in the Metropolitan Division.

The full statement #Isles co-owner Jon Ledecky made before leaving the dais pic.twitter.com/r22XSiVUBf

— Christian Arnold (@C_Arnold01) April 9, 2018

“We didn’t defend well early,” Weight said. “I sit here and listen to Jon say that the owners failed and that’s how I feel. I failed. It’s not easy. It’s very humbling, but you have to learn from it and you have to accept it. You have to get better. I think we had to find a way to get more consistent defensively.

“There’s a lot of things that go with it. The volume of goals we gave up, but we made some changes as the year went on. We feel good about our team moving forward.”

The 2017-18 season had been a roller coaster ride of a year with the Islanders starting off the season strong and looked as though they were destined to make the playoffs. Then, they secured a long sought after permanent home at Belmont Park, but after that the season took a turn.

The Islanders slide out of the playoff picture and attention turned to the impending free agency of John Tavares.

This season will be the eighth time under Snow’s management that the Islanders have missed the postseason. They have made the playoffs just four times with him as general manager and have one series win to show for it dating back to the 1992-93 season.

Still, Snow believes he is fit to run the organization.

“For me – 2006 when I took over this position it was a situation where it was an all-out rebuild,” Snow said. “Where we had to bring in talent through the draft. Now we’re in a situation where we feel we can compete for Stanley Cup.”