For Isles, Doug was worth the Weight

The Islanders removed the interim tag from Doug Weight’s title on Wednesday.

Weight took over after the Islanders fired Jack Capuano in January when the team was buried in last place in the Eastern Conference (17-17-8).

Weight, who played for six different NHL clubs − including the Rangers and Isles — during a nearly two-decade career, almost snuck the Islanders into the playoffs. The team ended the season with a 41-29-12 record and fell one point shy of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders under Weight went 24-12-4 and won six straight games to close the season.

“Doug has earned this opportunity from the tremendous work he has put in over the past five seasons in our front office and especially from the time he took over as interim head coach earlier this season,” Isles president and GM Garth Snow said.

Weight, who retired after playing 18 games with the Islanders during the 2010-11 season, had served as an assistant GM under Snow before jumping behind the bench.

“I’m honored to be named head coach of such an historic franchise with one of the most passionate fan bases in the NHL,” Weight said.

Under Snow’s leadership the Islanders have won just one playoff series in 11 seasons. That win came last season when Capuano’s team beat the Florida Panthers in the first round before falling in five games to the Lightning.

But the Islanders couldn’t build on the momentum of the conference-quarterfinal win over the Panthers − the franchise’s first series win since 1993 − and slumped to start the season, costing Capuano his job.

Snow, with owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin, are facing an important summer. Captain John Tavares is entering the final year of his contract before free agency in 2018. The team’s arena situation also remains up in the air after just two seasons in Brooklyn, with the owners pushing to get a new home for the team built either in Queens or near Belmont Park.

− With Peter Botte