3 NHL teams outside the playoffs who will ultimately make it

1. New York Islanders — Currently two points out of a playoff spot

The New York Islanders made headlines this weekend. Not only did they lose a game against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, who don't have Connor Bedard, but they fired head coach Lane Lambert after it was over. They ended up hiring former Vezina winning goaltender and Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy to replace him. We're sure this weirdly has something to do with Roy beating out Martin Brodeur in the 2001 Stanley Cup Final. Lou Lamoriello always gets his man.

Do we love the Patrick Roy hiring? Not exactly, but we do think it's going to motivate this team in the short term. The Islanders aren't even having that bad of a season in terms of statistics. What's strangely been hurting them is they can't keep pucks out of the net. With Ilya Sorokin as their goalie, that makes no sense. They allowed 151 goals against. That's tied with the Ottawa Senators for eighth worst in the NHL.

There is no way that keeps going. Sorokin will figure this out. This is an offense that can score with Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri leading the way. Noah Dobson has become one of the better defensemen in the league. They have pieces in place to be a winning franchise.

We also see Lamoriello making a big move at the deadline. He's 81 years old. He wants another championship. To do that, he needs to stack the deck here, and one of the league's legends will do everything possible to put this team in a position to win.