New York Islanders Forward Leaves the Team After Public Fight With Patrick Roy

The New York Islanders have some big games upcoming down the stretch, but after a few recent losses, it appears that they may have fallen out of the Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference.

After the latest game, Roy was ruthless in his comments about veteran forward Anthony Duclair, saying, among other things that he was absolutely awful in the game.

Sure, that's the type of thing you can say to a player behind closed doors, but in the public eye, that's just a bad look all around, and many have wondered how Duclair would handle being called out publicly by Roy.

Now, we know part of what happened, as it has been revealed by Stefan Rosner that the two had a long, private conversation the morning after, with Duclair telling his coach that he needs time away, with the organization agreeing and granting him that time.

With just 8 games remaining in the regular season for the Isles, it's unclear when we could see him back, but with the team now five points and four spots back of the final Wild Card spot in the East, a lot can happen down the stretch.

After signing a massive free agency deal in the summer, this has now called into question Duclair's future with the Islanders, and while he's definitely deserving of some criticism after underperforming in 2024/25, this has taken it too far, and now, we will simply wait and see what happens between the two parties in the off-season.