Stunning news for a team in a perilous playoff position: the Islanders announced Sunday morning that they have fired head coach Patrick Roy, and named former Devils bench boss Peter DeBoer their new head coach.
DeBoer, 57, was the head coach of the Stars from 2022-23 through 2024-25, going 149-68-29 and reaching three straight Western Conference Finals before being let go, in part because Stars could not convert any of thise appearances into a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
He spent the three years prior to that with the Vegas Golden Knights, reaching a pair of Western Conference Finals with them as well, and is 662-447-153 overall in 17 NHL seasons with Dallas, Vegas, San Jose, New Jersey, and Florida with 10 overall playoff appearances - including two Stanley Cup Finals trips (Devils in 2012 and Sharks in 2016) and six more conference finals.
DeBoer had not been in the NHL this season, although he was an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics.
Roy, a four-time Stanley Cup champion as a goaltender, was hired in January 2024 after the Isles fired Lane Lambert and finishes with a 97-78--22 in 197 games as head coach. He led the Isles to the playoffs after taking over in 2024, but the team missed the postseason last year, and they entered Sunday losers of four straight and 10-10 since play resumed following the Olympic break.
The Islanders also entered Sunday in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 89 points, techincally in a playoff spot, but they are just one point ahead of both Philadelphia and Columbus for that spot - with 78 games played to Philly's 76 and the Blue Jackets' 77 - and in a perilous spot made shakier by their games played total being higher than any other Eastern Conference team.
Right now, the Isles have that third Metro spot, but they have just that one point lead over the Flyers and Blue Jackets and a two-point lead over Washington - and in the Atlantic Division, Boston currently has the first Wild Card spot with 94 points, while Ottawa and Detroit are both tied with Philadelphia and Columbus with 88 points.
Translation: the Isles could go from in the playoffs to 12th in the conference with just a one-game shift, making their final four games as important as it gets for their postseason hopes.
