New York Islanders Wisely Fire Jack Capuano

The New York Islanders have made the decision to fire head coach Jack Capuano after a poor start to the season.

After two straight successful seasons, the New York Islanders have taken a big step back in the 2016-17 season. Last season, the Islanders were able to reach the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1993.

Since the dynasty years of the 1980s, the Islanders have struggled to find even close to that level of success. With a lot of young talent coming up the past few seasons, the hope was that the Islanders were building something special once again.

However, after the successful season, the Islanders made some changes this offseason. This offseason, the Islanders lost Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin in free agency. All three were big parts of the recent success and their chemistry.

With the loss of some big named players came new faces for the Islanders this season. Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera were the two big free agent signings this season. However, neither have played up to their norm this season, and that could be a product of Capuano struggling to find pairings that worked.

In addition to the struggles on offense, the Islanders also had some big problems in net this season under Capuano. Last season, Thomas Greiss filled in great for the injured Jaroslav Halak. Greiss was one of the main reasons why the Islanders were able to defeat the Florida Panthers in the first round. However, Capuano really struggled with trying to find out who his No.1 goalie was this season. Practice time became an issue for Halak as well, as his agent complained publically about it.

Despite making the playoffs the last two seasons, the Islanders are currently dead last in the Metropolitan standings. While some will point at Snow, Capuano also has to take the blame.

“At the end of the day organizationally, I don’t think Jack was going to be a coach we were going to bring back,” Isles general manager Garth Snow said on a conference call Tuesday afternoon via Newsday.com. “We need to turn this ship around and I really have a lot of confidence in our coaching staff and in our players.”

With a lot of games left to play, Doug Weight will be taking over as the interim head coach. The decision by Snow ends Capuano’s time in New York, as the second-winningest coach in Islanders franchise history has been fired.

“It’s an honor to have served this historic franchise and its passionate fans,” Capuano said via Newsday.com. “I’d like to thank Garth and our ownership group for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Islanders. I’d also like to recognize our coaching staff, training staff and players for all of their hard work.”

Capuano leaves New York with his head held high and thanked many for the opportunity. Even though the struggles of the Islanders might not be entirely his fault, firing Capuano was the right move for the Islanders at this point.