Editing New York Islanders (section)

===Management issues (1995–2000)===
By the end of the 1994–95 season, Maloney was under considerable heat from the press and fan base for his handling of the team. Since taking over in 1992, the only noticeable attempt he made to upgrade the roster was the acquisition of Hextall. Near the end of the failed 1995 campaign, Maloney decided that the core of players he had left alone for three seasons needed to be revamped, leading to a rebuilding project. He traded Turgeon and Malakhov to the [[Montreal Canadiens]] for [[Kirk Muller]] and [[Mathieu Schneider]], while Hogue was sent to [[Toronto Maple Leafs|Toronto]] for young goaltender [[Éric Fichaud|Eric Fichaud]]. Additionally, Maloney allowed the team's leading scorer, Ferraro, to depart as an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. Fans' displeasure at Maloney for trading the popular Turgeon was magnified when Muller balked at joining a rebuilding team. He played 45 games for the Islanders before being sent to Toronto as well.

Before the [[1995–96 NHL season|1995–96 season]], Maloney fired Henning and named [[Mike Milbury]] head coach. The same year, the Islanders' attempt at updating their look resulted in the unveiling of a new team logo of a slicker-clad fisherman holding a hockey stick. Islanders fans disliked it, and rival Rangers' fans mockingly called the Islanders "[[fishstick]]s"—mocking how the logo resembled the [[Gorton's of Gloucester|Gorton's Fisherman]]. The team reverted to a modified version of the old logo as soon as the league allowed them to do so. (In spite of this, the logo found renewed popularity as a throwback design in the late 2010s and early 2020s, enough so that the team would revive it as their third "Reverse Retro" jersey in 2022 and would use an adjusted version of the logo for their AHL team, the [[Bridgeport Islanders]], beginning in 2024.) The year was a disappointment on the ice as well, as the Islanders finished in last place with a record of 22–50–10. During the season, team management fired Maloney, whom fans blamed for the team's downfall,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/03/sports/hockey-islanders-heard-the-chanting-now-don-maloney-is-gone.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Jason|last=Diamos|title=HOCKEY;Islanders Heard the Chanting, Now Don Maloney Is Gone|date=December 3, 1995}}</ref> and gave Milbury full control of hockey operations as both a coach and general manager. Milbury went on to resign as head coach during the [[1996–97 NHL season|following season]] and elevated assistant [[Rick Bowness]] to the position. After another unsuccessful season with little improvement, Milbury took over as coach again during the [[1997–98 NHL season|1997–98 season]]. The team improved to fourth place in their division but again failed to make the playoffs. Milbury followed by once again stepping down as coach during the [[1998–99 NHL season|following season]] while retaining his job as general manager.

During the continued playoff drought, instability in the front office mirrored the Islanders' substandard performance on the ice. Pickett sold the team to [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]] businessman [[John Spano]] in 1996. However, three months after the 1997 closing, Spano had only paid Pickett a fraction of the first installment on the cable rights deal. Several Islanders executives tipped off ''[[Newsday]]'' that something was amiss about their new boss.<ref name="DalOb">{{cite web|last=Mullen|first=Holly|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/1997-07-31/news/meltdown-man|title=Meltdown man|work=[[Dallas Observer]]|date=July 31, 1997|access-date=February 17, 2015}}</ref> In July, ''Newsday'' exposed Spano as a fraud who did not have the assets required to complete the deal. The investigation showed that Spano had deliberately misled the NHL and the Islanders about his net worth, and also had two lawsuits pending against him. Within days of the report, Spano was forced to relinquish the team to Pickett. Federal prosecutors turned up evidence that Spano had forged many of the documents used to vouch for his wealth and to promise payment to Pickett, and even appeared to have sent many of the documents from his own office in Dallas. He was sentenced to 71 months in prison for bank and wire fraud. The NHL took additional heat when reports surfaced that the league spent well under $1,000 (depending on the source, the league spent either $525<ref name="DalOb"/> or $750<ref name="Fischler"/>) to check Spano's background. It subsequently stiffened the process for vetting future owners. The incident and its aftermath were covered in the [[ESPN]] ''[[30 for 30]]'' documentary, ''Big Shot''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/watch/film/514e7b74-560a-43f6-877f-78c84f28fc8c/big-shot|title=Big Shot – ESPN Films: 30 for 30|publisher=[[ESPN]]|access-date=February 17, 2015}}</ref> Pickett finally found a buyer, a group led by [[Howard Milstein]] and [[Phoenix Coyotes]] co-owner Steven Gluckstern, a deal which almost fell through when [[Spectacor Management Group]], which managed the Coliseum for Nassau County, tried to force Pickett to certify that the Coliseum was safe. Pickett refused, since the Coliseum had fallen into disrepair in recent seasons. SMG backed down under pressure from the Islanders, the NHL, and Nassau County officials.

Initially, the team made numerous trades and increased their payroll in an effort to assemble a better team. In one transaction, young players [[Todd Bertuzzi]] and [[Bryan McCabe]] were traded for veteran [[Trevor Linden]]. After the Islanders finished 12 points short of the playoffs in the 1997–98 season, however, Milstein and Gluckstern decided to run the team on an austere budget in an attempt to make a profit. They also complained about the condition of the Nassau Coliseum and made noises about moving the team elsewhere. They began trading or releasing many popular players to avoid paying their salaries, including star scorer [[Žigmund Pálffy|Zigmund Palffy]], team captain Linden, former rookie of the year [[Bryan Berard]], and rugged defenseman [[Rich Pilon]]. Losing the highly regarded players, the team finished with similar results the next two seasons. Attendance, which had been in a steady decline over the past few years, decreased even further to under 12,000 per game. Around that time, Milstein bid hundreds of millions of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to purchase the [[National Football League]]'s [[Washington Redskins]] and [[Cleveland Browns]].