Axe Falls on AV

In what's now become a familiar scene in Brooklyn, the New York Islanders held a press conference to announce a major change to their organization.

Perhaps fittingly for this period of unprecedented activity for the Islanders franchise, the one remaining area which hadn't seen change over the last five weeks—the head coach position—has now been swept up in the turnover.

Gone is Head Coach Alain Vigneault, who was in his third season with the team, and had guided the Isles to consecutive playoff berths. In his place is Mike Sullivan, recently fired by the Colorado Avalanche.

As always, loquacious Islanders GM Kyle Phillips was on hand to thrill the local media with one of his patented monologues.

"I'm sorry to see AV go, and I think he did a good job while he was here. But when I look at where this team has been over the last few years, I really feel they've underachieved.

"Now, it's debatable how much of that can be pinned on the coach, but I think it was well past time for a shift in the culture around this franchise. Changing the coach is part of that.

"Like I said, Alain did a good job. But we're trying to move past 'good.'

Of course, there's the small matter of the near $6.5-million buyout the team had to fork over, thanks to the lucrative contract extension Vigneault signed just this past offseason.

When pressed on the issue, Phillips, had this to say:

"I understand that's a hell of a lot of money. And believe me, we considered the option of retaining AV for the financial reasons alone.

"But at the end of the day, I didn't have a hand in Alain's extension, and I have to make decisions I feel are in the best interest of the team here and now.

"Going this route at this point in time was expensive, but it also gave us the ability to hire one of the best coaches in the league without having to wait on the unknown of the offseason hiring process, and the bidding wars that come along with it.

"Internally, we have a lot of belief in Mike Sullivan, and his ability to get this group where we want it to go."

As to the team's latest blockbuster trade—this one netting sniper Jakub Vrana at the expense of two former first-round picks, plus another in the 2023 Entry Draft—Phillips only rubbed his temples when asked to explain his thinking.

"Folks, I'm tired. What do you want me to tell you? That I overpaid for a 26-year-old elite scorer on a below-market contract for the next two years? OK, you got me.

"Bottom line though? This organization isn't going to be satisfied with hanging out in the mushy middle anymore."

It was an uncharacteristically abrupt end to an Islanders press conference, at least by the standards of current management. But whether Phillips and his braintrust like it or not, it looks like there will be plenty to talk about on Long Island for a while yet.