The biggest winner of this Islanders summer, aside from the club’s emboldened marketing and social media teams, is Patrick Roy, and it’s not a close call.
Roy, who clashed with general manager Lou Lamoriello for much of last season, saw Lamoriello get fired and Mathieu Darche, a general manager far more open to his preferred play style, get hired.
He got to take the lead in hiring Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner as assistant coaches, replacing a pair of Lamoriello acolytes in John MacLean and Tommy Albelin.
He’ll open camp in mid-September with a deeper roster that includes No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer and with an organizational timeline that does not demand the Islanders immediately contend for a championship, but merely that they make the playoffs, or at least show serious development compared to the mess of a year ago.
