Patrick Roy and the 5 Biggest Shocks From the 2025-26 NHL Season So Far

Happy April, hockey fans. Can you believe the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs are less than two weeks away?

Before we get there, though, we've run into some drama down the stretch via coaching changes.

We're used to changes on the coaching front this time of year, but such moves are typically reserved for teams out of playoff contention. The end of this regular season has seen two shocking coaching changes from teams in the playoff race: the Vegas Golden Knights and the New York Islanders. 

The Golden Knights swapped Bruce Cassidy for John Tortorella early last week in an attempt to reenergize a veteran team trending in the wrong direction ahead of the playoffs. The Islanders swapped Patrick Roy for Pete DeBoer on Sunday after a four-game skid.

These unexpected moves tie a fitting bow on a regular season full of unconventional moves from teams all over the league.

While we impatiently wait for the playoffs, let's reflect on the biggest shocks from the 2025-26 NHL season (so far).

Isles Replace Patrick Roy With Peter DeBoer

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Dallas head coach Peter DeBoer

The Islanders' playoff hopes are in serious trouble, as they've dropped their last four, seven of their last 10, and have slipped out of a playoff spot with four regular-season games left to play.

New York has one of the best goaltenders in the league in Ilya Sorokin, but the defense around him has been sloppy lately. DeBoer, who most recently served as assistant coach of Team Canada, is known for coming in and tidying up a team's defense. He was at the helm of the Dallas Stars, leading them to three consecutive trips to the Western Conference Finals before they parted ways with him last year.

Perhaps we weren't expecting a big shakeup out of the Islanders because we're used to Lou Lamoriello in the GM spot, but first-year GM Mathieu Darche has been quite active in the role so far. That's partly why they are in contention for a playoff spot this season.

Will the shock move—the second coaching change from a playoff-hopeful team in eight days—be enough to right the ship for the Islanders? Given how tight the East is, they might have to win all of their remaining four games.

Golden Knights Replace Bruce Cassidy With John Tortorella

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John Tortorella

The Golden Knights have had some nagging issues all season, and those worries could no longer be ignored after the Olympic break.

They have posted the second-worst record in the NHL during that span due to poor goaltending, a failure to capitalize on the roster's scoring potential, and a general lack of urgency.

Vegas has been able to roll with the punches, given how pathetic the Pacific Division has been as a whole, but realistically, something had to change if they wanted any semblance of playoff success. They can't change the goaltending situation at this point, but they can alter the coaching situation. So out went Cassidy, and in came another Cup-winning veteran coach: Tortorella.

Tortorella could be the man for the job. He has experience with older rosters, and the Golden Knights are the third-oldest in the league. He does his best work with skilled players needing just a smidge of no-nonsense motivation, and this underperforming Vegas roster seems like a prime candidate for that type of thing.

Tortorella isn't going to fundamentally change anything, but he doesn't have to, and he could squeeze a round or two out of these Golden Knights if they buy in.

The Quinn Hughes Trade

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When the season started to unravel for the struggling Vancouver Canucks about one-third of the way in, it was clear that trading homegrown star defenseman Quinn Hughes and starting a rebuild was going to be the best option. 

But the thought of trading Hughes would have seemed ridiculous heading into the season. There was optimism surrounding the team, if you can believe it.

The J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson drama was in the past, after the front office traded Miller. After some back-and-forth, Brock Boeser signed an extension, and both parties seemed happy. Goaltender Thatcher Demko looked fantastic before injuries took over once again.

In hindsight, we know Demko had been in and out of the lineup before he shut it down for the season Jan. 10. We know Pettersson wasn't able to use Miller's absence as a fresh start and struggled to make a significant impact when it mattered this season.

Even when we resigned ourselves to the idea that the Canucks could use a rebuild, we doubted the front office's ability to pull the trigger. So it was shocking on many fronts when the deal with the Wild came Dec. 13.

Many thought Hughes would have been dealt to the Devils with his brothers, but Minnesota had other plans and the package to back it up. 

Between the hopeful start to the season, the doubt in the front office's ability to pull off a major trade, the timing—months before the deadline—and the unexpected Minnesota destination, the Hughes deal was a shock all around.

The Buffalo Sabres Heater

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Rasmus Dahlin

We've seen our share of Buffalo Sabres "heaters" over the past few seasons, and maybe that's been the worst part.

Until this season, their win streaks roped us in, and just when we were convinced they might turn things around, an equal and a losing streak were just around the corner. We held our breath this year through the Sabres' franchise record-tying 10-game win streak in December, but then something amazing happened: They didn't blow it.

The Sabres finally exude the confidence and consistency to match the talent on the roster. The young players are panning out, Rasmus Dahlin has stepped up his leadership, and this is finally a real team rather than a group of hockey players.

Not only are the Sabres headed to the playoffs after ending a 14-year postseason drought, but they are also neck-and-neck with the Lightning for No. 1 in the Atlantic Division.

The catharsis of this season is that the Sabres aren't just finally meeting expectations—they're exceeding them. This feels less like an exasperated exhale and more like a confident fist pump for the franchise, and that might be the most unexpected part of the team finally making the playoffs.

Artemi Panarin Gets Traded to the Kings

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If we had read the headline that Artemi Panarin was off to the Kings at the beginning of the season, it would have been among the most shocking developments of the year.

The Rangers were supposed to be back in the playoffs after GM Chris Drury's many aggressive moves. Plus, it would have been a surprise if the Kings had taken the initiative at the trade deadline and made an active move to improve the team.

Well, the Rangers are nowhere near the playoffs. The defense fell apart when the combination of Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox was injured at the same time, and the team never recovered after the team's absences exposed gaping holes.

As for the Kings? Well, that makes more sense: Panarin basically fell into their lap. He had almost complete control of his own fate via his no-move clause, and he had his heart set on Los Angeles. You can't give too much credit to the Kings here, but at least they didn't mess it up.

The Kings currently hold the No. 2 wild-card spot in the West by one point. If they end up hanging on to it, we could look back on the Panarin acquisition as the difference between making and not making the playoffs.