Islanders deserve to take one massive swing for their next GM

The Islanders should be attracting the best and brightest candidates for the vacancies in the executive suite. Maybe they are, and maybe that’s the process unfolding behind closed doors.

But in the few weeks since parting ways with Lou Lamoriello — who oddly remains on the franchise directory listed as president, general manager and alternate governor — it seems that we’ve seen or heard about a parade of recyclables vying for the job. Not terribly inspiring.

Marc Bergevin, really?

But we’re not sure whether the Scott Malkin-Jon Ledecky ownership represented by proxy John Collins — listed on the directory as co-owner, operating partner and alternate governor — is seeking to hire one man to run the operation, who will then hire the general manager, who will then make the decision on head coach Patrick Roy and his staff who have been left in limbo?

Or perhaps Collins will pull a Dick Cheney and will ultimately identify himself as the best person to assume the presidency while he looks only for the individual who will run the day-to-day hockey operation as a traditional general manager.

There is a shared perception throughout the industry that modernizing the operation after Lamoriello’s singular presence the past seven years is going to be a massive job. There is a belief that this is scaring candidates away.

I don’t quite get it. The next president or GM will have the opportunity to create the Islanders hockey department in his (or her) own image. This is an ownership that has been supportive from Day 1. This is a fan base, lord knows, that has had decades of practice at being patient.

The Islanders collected a reservoir of good will off their draft lottery victory, which will allow the incoming GM to direct the hockey conversation for the next seven weeks. This individual will inherit a blank canvas. If there is the perception that this is a huge job; there is no question that this is going to be a huge pick.

Is there a continued promise of independence between hockey ops and ownership? Because this needs to be a hockey pick, not a public relations pick. This is not a time — it is never a time — to select the equivalent of Hugh Jessiman because he roots for your team.

This is not the time for ownership to exert any influence tied to branding and marketing when it comes to James Hagens, the Long Island born-and-bred sophomore center from Boston College — who is generally rated between third and seventh on the rankings, and a bound or two away from top-ranked defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who hails from Ontario.

Again, we have heard about the usual suspects and about reluctant candidates such as Jeff Gorton, who apparently never applied. It seems that there is the same small circle of folks who would be in line for this job as for head-coaching positions.

It’s a wheel, no, it’s a carousel.

A couple of weeks ago I had been told by a well-connected fellow not to be surprised if Jon Cooper — with one year remaining on his contract — stepped down as coach of Tampa Bay to take over the operation in Utah for his friend and Mammoth owner Ryan Smyth. I didn’t mean as coach.

But in the interim after the Lightning’s third straight first-round elimination (and second straight to Florida in five games), Cooper committed to returning behind the bench for the final year of his deal.

But I wonder if the 57-year-old would be interested in broadening his horizons. I wonder what he would do if given the keys to the executive suite at UBS, which is just over 10 miles away from the campus of Hofstra University, from which Cooper graduated in 1989 with a degree in business administration.

Cooper has two Stanley Cups and a 4 Nations championship. He will coach Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics. There are few worlds for the bench-boss Cooper to conquer, though Gold in Italy is a primary objective.

Rebuilding the Islanders — building the Islanders in his own image — might appeal to Cooper’s sense of adventure. It might appeal to his ego. The narrative of coming back home after all these decades to save the beloved and perennially battered franchise might be too tantalizing to resist.

Malkin, Ledecky and Collins — and maybe Lamoriello, if he is still on the letterhead — could do worse by actually asking for permission to talk to Cooper.

The Islanders deserve the best and brightest.