Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Islanders Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/09/26

The New York Islanders made a desperate move earlier this week when they fired Patrick Roy to hire Pete DeBoer with just 4 games remaining in the season. The timing of the move during an extended break before their game on Thursday allowed the experienced coach to get comfortable with his new team through a mini training camp, which will be crucial given the demands of needing to win all 4 remaining games to have a chance to make the postseason.

The Toronto Maple Leafs barely showed up on Wednesday night at home against the Washington Capitals. They took further losses when Anthony Stolarz, Brandon Carlo and Dakota Joshua left the game with injuries. Neither of those players will dress on Thursday against the Islanders, with Artur Akhtyamov making his NHL debut in net, and Josh Haymes and William Villneauve likely slotting in for their debuts as well.

The Islanders copied the Vegas Golden Knights by making a late-season coaching change after seeing the success John Tortorella had so far. Whether DeBoer can have the same effect remains to be seen, but the Maple Leafs being on short rest with some fresh faces in the lineup against a motivated New York team with a new head coach bump should get them over the hump here.

Maple Leafs vs Islanders best bet: NY Islanders -1.5 (+100) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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