Former Islanders GM Garth Snow apparently landed the GM job in the most average-Joe way
In the latest Spittin' Chiclets podcast episode featuring Kyle Okposo, Okposo went into detail on his career to date, sharing some hilarious stories and most prominently, being drafted by the New York Islanders.
Okposo was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Islanders, for whom he played from 2008 to 2016. When selected, Okposo stated that the GM at the time was Neil Smith for a very short duration of fewer than two months. Apparently Smith got wind of the fact that Isles owner Charles Wang had intended to offer then Isles goalie Rick DiPietro a 15-year deal and resigned from his position, leaving the Isles in a bind.
With Garth Snow still on a one-year contract as a backup goaltender and a close relationship with DiPietro, ownership was convinced to give Snow the job after DiPietro vouched for him due to his interest in the salary cap and, of all things, fantasy hockey. This according to Okposo.
Snow is now officially the living embodiment of every armchair GM's dream. Imagine tinkering with CapFriendly's armchair GM function and trying to fit a winning team under the salary cap or loading up your fantasy team in Yahoo Fantasy Sports and completing a trade to bolster your team and then having an NHL club offer you a job.. I mean, sure, it's different in the sense that he was technically already employed by the NHL, but still - that's a pretty random stroke of luck.
