Islanders name Ryan Bowness assistant GM as front office shift continues

The Islanders’ new-look front office continues to take shape.

Ryan Bowness was named assistant general manager and director of player personnel, the team announced on Monday. The hiring solidifies the organization’s management tandem, after Mathieu Darche was hired to replace Lou Lamoriello as general manager last month.

Chris Lamoriello and Steve Pellegrini, who were both extended by Lamoriello prior to his ouster, will keep their titles as assistant general manager, per source.

Bowness will be in charge of player personnel and running the pro scouting staff.

The 41-year-old, who is the son of former Islanders head coach Rick Bowness, comes to Long Island after three seasons with the Senators.

Serving as Ottawa’s assistant general manager and general manager of the club’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, from 2022-23 through 2023-24, Bowness was then promoted to associate general manager during the 2024-25 campaign, in which the Senators snapped a seven-season playoff drought.

The Belleville Senators posted a combined 103-86-15 record the last three seasons and qualified for the postseason once.

Bowness and Ottawa mutually agreed to part ways in May.

Prior to joining the Senators, Bowness spent six seasons with the Penguins as a pro scout and the director of pro scouting. He won his first and only Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh in 2017.

Bowness also brings seven seasons of experience in the Winnipeg Jets’/Atlanta Thrashers’ hockey operations department, in which he wore several different hats including pro scout, manager of hockey operations and manager of player development.

A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bowness was once a right wing drafted 236th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2001. He never played in an NHL game, but was working for a club just eight years later.

Darche emphasized his plans to make player development an organizational focus in his introductory press conference on May 29. As a result, Bowness’ history in player development roles presumably factored into his hiring.

“I believe in developing in the winning environment,” Darche said. “The AHL will definitely be a focus for me because your players have to be ready because, let’s face it, every team needs players called up during the year.”