Patrick Roy signs three-year contract with Islanders

Patrick Roy has been at the helm of the New York Islanders for a week now. Since his arrival, the club has a 1-2-0 record (including an emotional loss to the Habs), but it’s clear that Roy has come to town to shake things up a bit.

This morning, in any case, the Islanders got things moving at training. Roy is fed up with seeing his boys commit turnovers, and he made sure the message got through.

That said, we had very few details on the contract signed by the former Remparts coach with the Islanders. We knew he didn’t have an interim tag… but that’s pretty much all we knew.

But this morning, David Pagnotta published a text in which he reports that Roy will sign a three-year contract with Long Island.

And by three years, we mean the end of the current season plus the next two. In concrete terms, then, he’s under contract until 2025-26.

That’ll give Roy two and a half years to prove his worth and, perhaps, learn the ropes with a view to moving on to another position. Because, as Renaud Lavoie said on Thursday, if Roy wants to become GM eventually, he’ll get his chance, especially if he learns from Lou Lamoriello over the next few years.

But until then, Roy needs to focus on the Islanders, as colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois said yesterday morning. He has work to do with his team, which is starting to lag in a playoff race.

And without Adam Pelech, who is being evaluated on a daily basis, it’s hurting the club’s defensive brigade, which is also without the services of Ryan Pulock.

Speaking of Pelech, who was the victim of Brendan Gallagher’s blow to the head (which earned him a five-game suspension), Roy noted that it was a big loss for his club… and that he couldn’t care less about Gallagher’s suspension. Because for him, the reality is that he’s deprived of one of his best defensemen, that’s it.

We’ll see if Roy can help the Islanders get back on track, but even if he can’t this season, he still has two and a half years to establish his culture and start winning on a regular basis.

And at the very least, having the best player on his team on his side is a good sign, while Mathew Barzal has been a big fan of Roy’s work so far.

In gusto

– Ryan Reaves will be in uniform tonight.

– Well deserved.

– Does this have anything to do with the rumours surrounding Arber Xhekaj and the Flyers? Remember that we learned this morning that the Habs had turned down an offer for Xhekaj that would have brought them a forward with “top-6 potential”.

– What do you think?

Grant McCagg: Demidov is a better puck carrier than Bedard@grantmccagg, @GaumondShayne & @ScoutRocco discuss the prospects of the week!

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– The Sick Podcast – Recrutes Draftcast (@sickpodnhldraft) January 27, 2024

– Pretty cool!

– There’s talent out there.