Snow to blame for Islanders' plight

Jack Capuano has taken the fall, but the New York Islanders are Garth Snow's mess.

And the general manager wasn't shying away from that reality soon after announcing the firing of the head coach he had entrusted to guide the club for the past six years.

The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. Despite the fact the Islanders are coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons and a trip to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2016, Snow's reign has been nothing to write home about.

Snow has been on the job since 2006, with four playoff appearances and one series win in the past 10 seasons. So far in 2016-17, the Islanders have plummeted to the basement of the Eastern Conference, with Capuano paying the price and Doug Weight assuming the coaching duties for the time being.

To be fair, Snow inherited quite a mess, but he hasn't exactly taken the world by storm either. Here's a quick look at why.

Draft misses

Snow has been called upon to make the first overall pick at the NHL Draft on on occasion, selecting John Tavares, who was as sure a thing as any GM can hope for. Apart from that, however, his track record has been spotty at best.

Let's set aside the last two years, allowing time for prospects to develop. From 2010-14, the Islanders had four top-five picks, and only Ryan Strome (2011), who was hardly favorite of Capuano's, is with the team.

Griffin Reinhart (fourth overall in 2012) was traded to Edmonton for a pair of picks in 2015, one of which was used to scoop Mathew Barzal, which could be a big win. But Michael Dal Colle (fifth in 2014) has yet to make his NHL debut, and Nino Niederreiter (fifth in 2010) was traded to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck, of all people.

Snow has found some roster players in later rounds, namely Travis Hamonic, Anders Lee, and Casey Cizikas, but the picks with the supposed highest probabilities of success have not panned out, and the Islanders are paying for it.

Asset mismanagement

Few envisioned a scenario wherein the Islanders would sustain last season's success by allowing homegrown talents and key cogs like Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to leave as unrestricted free agents while adding Andrew Ladd to a seven-year, $38.5-million contract.

Beyond that, Snow's recent decisions to hand fairly lenghy contract extensions to role players like Cizikas and Clutterbuck were somewhat baffling, and starting this season with three goalies on the roster and failing to capitalize on the trade market can also be seen as a misstep.

All this while holding onto Tavares at a ridiculously team-friendly cap hit and running the risk of alienating the face of the franchise in the process.

If Snow can't convince Tavares to sign a contract extension on July 1, then doubt will only linger as to whether the GM will be able to keep the star center from moving on to greener pastures as an unrestricted free agent in 2018..

That the Islanders have fallen off - or failed to take off, rather - to the point where that's a legitimate possibility is unnaceptable, and falls squarely on the shoulders of the GM.

Capuano is the scapegoat for now, but Snow might not be too far behind.