Ever since the coaching carousel stopped a year ago and Pete DeBoer did not have a seat, it’s been obvious that someone would jump at the chance to hire him in this year’s cycle.
That someone, it turns out, was the Islanders, who jumped the market on Sunday by making DeBoer their replacement for Patrick Roy, having fired Roy with four games left in the regular season.
Reports indicated DeBoer signed a deal with four years of term after this one ends, which means general manager Mathieu Darche envisions him behind the Islanders bench until — at least — Matthew Schaefer is 22 years old and on his second contract.
Setting aside the very immediate task of pulling the Islanders out of their morass and into the playoffs, these will be pivotal seasons if the franchise is to win a championship with the core it’s currently constructing.
The move to hire DeBoer is one of the most important Darche will make as GM.
The 57-year-old DeBoer has a long and decorated track record. He led the Stars to the Western Conference final in each of his three years there, has taken both the Devils and Sharks to a Stanley Cup Final and holds a career 9-0 record in Game 7s. He was an assistant coach for Team Canada at both the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Just about the only thing missing from a résumé that, after he debuts with the Islanders on Thursday will include being behind an NHL bench in every season since 2008, is a Stanley Cup championship.
Even with four days of runway before his first game in charge, though, the main way DeBoer can bring an immediate impact is the natural spark that comes with a new voice.
He may be able to tweak certain things about how the Islanders play, but changing their system entirely would be a heavy lift at this stage of the season. DeBoer also is not bringing any assistant coaches with him for now — Benoit Desrosiers, Ray Bennett, Bob Boughner and Sergei Naumovs all retained their jobs as of Sunday. Boughner worked with DeBoer when both were in San Jose.
That is not to downplay the consequences of this move. Quite the opposite.
For a team that seemed to be tuning out Roy, a new voice will matter significantly. Making a coaching move at this point in the season instead of waiting also sends a clear signal that Darche will not hesitate to make changes to the roster during the offseason.
Whether it’s enough to get the Islanders into the playoffs, though, remains to be seen.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
