DeBoer's playoff success arrives on Long Island. Ten postseason berths, nine series wins, and two Stanley Cup Final appearances fuel hope.
"The Isles replaced a coach who won 97 games for them with a coach who has 97 playoff wins."
Those were the fine words of New York Islanders statistician Eric Hornick, who dropped that line in Monday morning's 'The Skinny' after Pete DeBoer was hired to replace Patrick Roy.
DeBoer has an impeccable track record as an NHL coach.
Over his 17 seasons behind an NHL bench -- this latest hiring means 18 straight seasons as an NHL head coach -- DeBoer has made the playoffs 10 times.
After only making the playoffs once in his first five seasons behind the bench -- he fell to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals -- he's made the playoffs in nine of the last 11 seasons -- he didn't make it through the 2019-20 season with the San Jose Sharks before they cut bait.
DeBoer's teams have all won at least one round in his last seven playoff appearances, the latest being the Dallas Stars in 2025, who fell in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
So, to sum things up, DeBoer has coached in the playoffs 10 times. He's made it past the first round nine times, the second round eight times, and has fallen in the finals twice.
The question, with four games to go, is whether he can get the Islanders to the playoffs with the odds against them.