Islanders’ courtship of Lou Lamoriello is taking shape

Where there is smoke, there is fire. And so it is with the mutual interest between the Islanders and the legendary Lou Lamoriello.

As reports out of Canada — see: Toronto — said Friday night, there have been some ancillary conversations had that connect Lamoriello to the Islanders, even while any direct conversations apparently have yet to commence, according to league sources. The Islanders had no immediate comment on the situation.

Lamoriello is still currently a senior adviser to the Maple Leafs after he was bumped out of the general manager’s chair (as per his contract) a few weeks ago and replaced Friday by the young Kyle Dubas.

The Islanders are still steadfast in the belief issued by co-owner Jon Ledecky that he is “evaluating all aspects of our hockey operations.” That includes the future of current GM Garth Snow and second-year head coach Doug Weight. Yet even if Lamoriello is hired, that hardly means that everyone is going to be fired.

At a bizarre end-of-the-year press conference April 9, Snow and Weight both proclaimed confidence in their own job security. That was the same press conference when Ledecky issued a strange prepared statement with his declaration of him “failing” the fans after missing the playoffs for the second straight year, as well as the proclamation of evaluations to come.

Lamoriello, 75, won three Stanley Cups while managing the Devils. He had a similar role as overseer with the Devils when they hired Ray Shero as the GM in 2015, but he lasted only one year before taking on the challenge of rebuilding the Maple Leafs.

Maybe the biggest lure for Lamoriello coming to Long Island is that his son, Chris, has been an assistant GM to Snow since August 2016. Snow is known to have a close relationship with Lou, hence the Islanders’ uncanny ability to keep things tight-lipped, even if they can’t match the on-ice product or the buttoned-up professionalism that has defined every organization Lamoriello has been associated with.

The other elephant in the room is the looming contract situation with star captain John Tavares. Set to be an unrestricted free agent July 1, it sure seems like Tavares and his high-powered agent, Pat Brisson, are leaning toward at least hearing what the rest of the league has to say during the free-agent courting period between June 25-30. If that’s the case, that means the Islanders will go into the June 22 draft in Dallas with a ton of picks, a ton of needs on their roster and no idea if their captain and best player is going to be back.

Snow, meanwhile, has been in office since 2006, when then-owner Charles Wang hired him off the bench as a backup goalie to be a first-time manager. In his tenure, the Islanders have made the playoffs four times in 12 seasons and advanced beyond the first round once.

The Islanders ownership now has to make a decision on who leads them into the future as they prepare for the eventual move to a new arena at Belmont Park, likely at the start of the 2021-22 season. It only makes sense they would have interest in someone like Lamoriello, and it only makes sense those in Toronto might want to start anew without Lamoriello lording over them.