The impression may be that with each passing day, the ax is getting closer and closer to Jack Capuano’s head.
Yet the Islanders coach is in better standing than most might believe, The Post has learned. A source familiar with the thinking of general manager Garth Snow said on Tuesday night Capuano is not being perceived as the problem with the plummeting team, and he will not be fired any time soon.
Before Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout victory in San Jose, the Islanders were in the midst of the worst road-losing streak since the franchise’s embarrassing inaugural season of 1972-73, the 5-2 loss to the Ducks in Anaheim on Monday being their 10th straight regulation loss away from the Coliseum. Overall, the team had been winless in their previous 10 games (0-8-2), and with a record of 9-18-5, they are 29th in the 30-team league.
Yet the company line concerning Capuano has not changed. The statement that Capuano was currently safe confirmed what sources within the team said last week, that there was no immediate plan to change any of the coaches and the drastic fall off from last season’s playoff berth — the team’s first since 2007 — was more a result of damning injuries rather than Capuano losing his team.
First came the injury to starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who has been out since Nov. 16 with a groin injury, but is expected to be ready for Thursday’s game against the Coyotes in Phoenix. That loss was compounded by the absence of two top-four defensemen, Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and Brian Strait (upper body), both still out indefinitely.
Snow was in Anaheim for Monday’s game, and watched with owner Charles Wang before the two went to Pebble Beach, Calif., for Tuesday’s NHL Board of Governors meetings. One source said Snow does not think Capuano has lost the team, and it’s evident by the Isles’ level of effort every night. Snow does think there are some roster deficiencies, and has had discussion in hopes of improving his defense and his goaltending through trades, but hasn’t found any deal to his liking just yet.
On Monday, Snow did make a roster move, placing Pierre-Marc Bouchard on waivers, signaling his admittance the one-year, $2 million deal he gave the 29-year-old free agent this offseason was an unmitigated disaster. Bouchard cleared waivers Tuesday at noon, and was assigned to AHL Bridgeport.
That also opened a roster spot for 2011 first-round pick (No. 5 overall) Ryan Strome to be recalled. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the team couldn’t buy a plane ticket for the talented 20-year-old center — the AHL’s player of the week, two weeks running — until Bouchard cleared. Strome is now planning to meet the team in Phoenix.
For now, so will Capuano. For now.