Barry Trotz Shockingly Fired By Islanders, is Peter DeBoer Next?

The New York Islanders made a shocking move Monday morning when they unexpectedly fired head coach Barry Trotz. The Islanders are coming off a rough non-playoff season after back-to-back trips to the Conference Finals. General Manager Lou Lamoriello stated the team needs a “new voice.”

This move may have major implications for the Vegas Golden Knights given their current coaching situation. After a similar underachieving and non-playoff season, the Golden Knights stated on May 3rd that they would meet with head coach Peter DeBoer in one week to discuss his future with the team.

Tuesday will mark one week since that announcement was made. So expect news on DeBoer’s future soon. Per CapFriendly, DeBoer has one year left on his deal with the VGK, but can be fired at any time.

“I want to be back. I want to coach this team again. We never got a chance to do what we’re capable of doing. We’re excited about this group. This type of season has to fuel you for next year,” said DeBoer.

Injuries rattled the Golden Knight’s season, as they suffered over 500 man-games lost to injury. DeBoer did the best he could to piece together a competitive roster. He still made some questionable decisions such as starting Robin Lehner over the at-the-time hot Logan Thompson.

DeBoer also confessed in his cleanout day media conference that he used the word ‘healthy’ a little too prematurely. He stated that to him, a player being healthy meant that they could play and that his usage of that word was somewhat misleading at times.

If a change in scenery is decided for both parties, the Golden Knights could look to Trotz as a replacement head coach. Similarly, DeBoer could be hired by the Islanders, given his history with general manager Lamoriello from their time with the New Jersey Devils.

After taking over from Gerard Gallant, in 2019-20 DeBoer has a 98-50-12 record with the Golden Knights in three seasons. This season he surpassed 500 career wins in early March, making him the 28th winningest coach in NHL history.