Islanders officially eliminated from 2026 Stanley Cup playoff contention
A disappointing end to what was a promising season on Long Island.
After losing to the Montreal Canadiens in regulation on Sunday, the New York Islanders were officially eliminated from contending for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It’s the third time in the past five years that the Islanders have failed to make the postseason.
Heading into the 2025-26 campaign, expectations were low for the team, which had missed the playoffs last year. However, with the emergence of rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer and excellent goaltending early on, the Islanders looked like they not only had a chance to clinch a postseason spot but also be a legitimate threat to make a run in the seemingly wide-open Metropolitan Division.
However, the last month or so hasn’t been kind to the Isles. After sitting third in the Metro for the first few weeks coming out of the Olympic break, the team has seemingly tanked, losing nine of its past 15 games, all of which were in regulation. A four-game losing skid led general manager Mathieu Darche to make a desperation play, firing head coach Patrick Roy with just four games to go in the regular season. The team hired veteran bench boss Pete DeBoer to potentially right the ship in short order, or at least build to a more promising 2026-27 campaign.
The Islanders had a quick bounce-back, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in DeBoer’s debut, but losses to the Ottawa Senators and Canadiens sealed their fate.
It’ll be hard to exactly pinpoint when things went wrong on Long Island. Ilya Sorokin looked like the goaltender who has earned a reputation as one of the best in the NHL at times, but didn’t get enough support in front of him. There were a number of players – like Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Anders Lee – who contributed offensively. Yet, when things tightened up late in the year, New York failed to string together the results it needed to get back to the playoffs.
If there’s anything that Islanders’ fans will take away from this season is the impressive debut of Schaefer. The 18-year-old was taken first overall by the team in last year’s NHL Draft, but some thought it might be worth it to send him back to junior for another year. The former Erie Otter erased that possibility with an impressive performance that has made him the resounding favorite to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. He’s tied for the most goals (23) by a rookie this season, while sitting third among first-year players with 59 points.