The Islanders are going to do what they can to forget about John Tavares, but the gaping hole left by the departed captain is too big to ignore.
After a long, drawn-out and mismanaged process, Tavares left the Isles to sign a free-agent deal with his hometown Maple Leafs this summer. It was part of a massive personnel turnover that included the firing of longtime general manager Garth Snow and neophyte head coach Doug Weight. Co-owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky brought in the legendary Lou Lamoriello to run all hockey operations, and Lamoriello hired Barry Trotz to be the head coach coming off his Stanley Cup win with the Capitals.