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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
When given a choice, our actions are shaped by a combination of factors - emotions, reasoning, outside influences, etc. Ultimately, our response reflects the complex interplay between internal motivations and external circumstances.
GM Lou Lamoriello and, perhaps more accurately, Islanders ownership have a choice to make. In the coming weeks and months, the organization will weigh the pros and cons of staying the course or setting a new direction.
But if fans were given a choice, what would THEY want? Conventional wisdom says that winning games is the goal, but after three consecutive years of falling well short of serious contention, the pursuit of earning a chance to prove people wrong in the postseason feels like a fool’s errand.
Last week, I looked up the Islanders' odds to make the postseason. I then checked the chances of them winning the NHL lottery. The percentages were almost identical. They roughly have a 10% chance of making the playoffs and an 8.5% chance at drafting Long Island’s James Hagens with the first overall pick.
Which of those two would you want to have at the end of the regular season? A chance at making another improbable playoff run or a chance at drafting a franchise-altering player? They both are longshots by the odds, but one has a greater payoff and the fallback of having a Top 5-10 pick for the first time in over a decade. Maybe to some, the choice is easy and even obvious, but maybe not to those in charge. The choice is not ours and we have no choice but to wait and see.
