Patrick Roy enters a pivotal season with the New York Islanders. It looks like he’ll be the head coach for a while unless there’s a sudden collapse (which with the Islanders, isn’t out of the equation). Even with the feeling of long-term job security, this season could define Roy’s tenure with this team.
Related: Islanders’ Recent Deals Give Patrick Roy Roster Flexibility
Last season, Roy, after getting hired midseason, helped the Islanders reach the playoffs, albeit, in a conference where a lot of teams were stumbling around them. A 20-12-5 record is underwhelming yet it was enough for the Islanders to secure the third-best record in the Metropolitan Division. Now, Roy has a full offseason and training camp with the team and he can show his true colors as the head coach.
Roy can instill an identity in this team and with that comes a ceiling and floor. Sure the Islanders don’t look like they have high upside but they can look to teams that made significant changes behind the bench and see what can happen with a coach like Roy leading them.
Roy’s Has Tocchet-Level Ceiling
It’s easy to look at what happened with the Vancouver Canucks last season, a team that finished in first place in the Pacific Division and with the second-best record in the Western Conference, and say that it can easily happen with the Islanders. The two teams mirror each other in a lot of ways and behind the bench is where there is the most overlap.
Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller are the elite skaters leading the top six for the Canucks while the Islanders have Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal in that role. Brock Boeser and Brock Nelson, aside from sharing the same first name, are both dynamic goal scorers. Quinn Hughes is the reigning Norris Trophy winner but the Islanders have a young two-way defenseman of their own in Noah Dobson who can win the trophy this season.
Sure the Canucks have a significant advantage when it comes to roster depth and complementary skaters. Likewise, the goaltending situations are different. However, the goaltending difference favors the Islanders who not only have Ilya Sorokin who is one of the best in the NHL and looks to bounce back from a difficult season but they also have Semyon Varlamov as a backup who is still playing at a high level.
What Roy must do is balance out the Islanders. The Canucks were a fast team that could run up the score when Bruce Boudreau was their head coach and they became a structured team when Tocchet took over (sounds familiar). Similarly, the Islanders must win with their offense and by pushing the pace but at the same time, without sacrificing disciplined defense at the other end of the ice. They also must win games one shift at a time and play with accountability. It’s how Tocchet took a good team to the next level and how Roy will do the same.
Like Sutter’s Flames, Islanders Can Unravel Fast
In his first full season with the Calgary Flames, Darryl Sutter had the same effect that Tocchet had with the Canucks. He took a good team to the next level in part because the players bought into his hard-nosed, disciplined, and tough style. The Flames finished in first place in the Pacific Division in 2021-22 (ironically, like the Canucks last season, they lost in the second round to the Edmonton Oilers).
Sutter looked poised to keep the Flames competitive but by the next season, his voice wore off. The roster wasn’t the same and after a slow start, they checked out. The Flames missed the playoffs in 2022-23 and Sutter was fired. It’s something the Islanders must keep in mind with Roy.
Roy is a fiery and passionate coach who gets the most out of his players. The problem is if the players stop responding after a while, things start to fall apart. This can be a particular issue with the Islanders who don’t have an exceptional roster. If they can’t play under Roy’s style, things can unravel fast and there might be a firesale like the one the Flames had in the 2023 offseason. The Islanders could see a coaching change, changes in the front office, and an overhaul of the roster.
Roy’s Realistic Middle Ground
Roy is the wild card for the Islanders, a team that otherwise, has a lot of predictable players on it. He can have them finishing near the top of the Eastern Conference and similarly, have them in a state of chaos by the trade deadline. However, the most likely scenario is that the Islanders are in the middle of the conference. Roy will get the most out of this roster but the bottom line is that it’s not great and that combination leaves them on the cusp of a playoff spot and not much better.
John Tortorella of the Philadephia Flyers did something similar in 2023-24. He didn’t have a great team to work with but he got the most out of what he had. The Flyers fell apart at the end of the season but they were in contention for a playoff spot for most of the season and at the very least, they were a tough team to play against. Roy will have the Islanders prepared for every game and even if they aren’t the better team on the ice, they will be a tough one to put away.
How do you think Roy’s first full season with the Islanders will turn out? Let us know in the comments section below!
