The New York Islanders fired head coach Patrick Roy on Sunday and hired Peter DeBoer, who most recently coached the Dallas Stars in 2024-25.
Roy had a 97-78-22 record with the Islanders after taking over midway through the 2023-24 season. New York made the playoffs that season, losing in five games to Carolina in the first round, but missed the last postseason and is currently 42-31-5 in a tight race for another playoff spot.
Roy had two years left on his contract, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, meaning the team owes him that money unless he’s hired elsewhere.
The Islanders got off to a strong start in 2025-26 and have been in playoff position most of the year, but have lost four consecutive games and were badly outplayed during that stretch, putting them at risk of missing the postseason. They are still in a playoff spot by total points, but are not by point percentage. The Islanders are 10-10-0 since the Olympic break. Their .500 point percentage ranks 25th in the league during that span.
DeBoer has a 662-447-152 career record over stints with the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights and the Stars. He made the Stanley Cup Final with the Devils and Sharks but is still seeking his first championship.
“I’m ready to get behind a bench again,” DeBoer told The Athletic in January. “I’m ready to dust my skates off and start to coach. You realize how much you miss it, especially as the playoff races heat up. That’s just how you’re wired. I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason, and I know I’ll look back and be thankful that this happened, as painful as it was.”
This past offseason, the Islanders hired general manager Mathieu Darche to replace Lou Lamoriello. Darche did not hire Roy, so DeBoer is the first coach he got to choose. There have been no changes to the Islanders’ assistant coaching staff, a team spokesperson told The Athletic, with Ray Bennett, Bob Boughner, Benoit Desrosiers and Sergei Naumovs all retaining their jobs for the time being. Boughner previously worked with DeBoer in San Jose.
The Islanders are the second NHL team to make a late-season coaching change. The Golden Knights fired Bruce Cassidy and hired John Tortorella late last month.
Why DeBoer, and why now?
DeBoer, who made three consecutive Western Conference finals with Dallas, would have been a top name among coaching candidates this offseason. By hiring him with four games left in the season, Darche ensured no other team would have the chance to hire DeBoer. The Islanders next play Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, so the players will have some time to process the news before taking the ice. If the Islanders finish the season strong, they will likely make the playoffs, so this move not only has ramifications for the future but also the present. — Peter Baugh, New York staff writer
At the rate the Islanders have been playing, this team is lucky to be still sitting in a playoff spot, let alone third in the Metropolitan Division. It is lucky the Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators have all been stumbling of late. That downturn became most obvious in March, when the Islanders earned only two of six points on a swing through California after a 2-1 overtime win over the Sharks. Over 18 games since March 1, the Islanders have gone 8-10-8 with a 0.444 points percentage that rates 27th in the league. As a result, following Saturday’s loss to the Hurricanes, the Islanders’ playoff odds have dropped from 69 percent to 21.6 percent.
The Islanders’ defense has been the driving force behind that shaky record. The team has been bleeding scoring chances over the last 18 games, with the fifth-worst rate in the league of 3.26 expected goals against. The defense has been far from perfect all season, especially in transition, but it’s spiraled of late. That has put a ton of pressure on the goaltenders, and while Ilya Sorokin has generally been up to the task with a sparkling season, that workload has been far too demanding. That also extends to short-handed situations, considering how overreliant the team has been on its goalies.
Interestingly, Roy helped tighten up the Islanders’ defense when he took over as head coach in 2024. However, this year, it’s become a real weak point under Roy and Boughner, who was hired as assistant last summer. The difference now is that DeBoer only has four regular-season games to work with, while Roy had 37 to close out the 2023-24 season.
Even if there isn’t much time for DeBoer to overhaul the Islanders’ system, the team was already trending toward a playoff exit (similar to Vegas). Making the change now could stop the bleeding and re-energize the team to start games stronger, helping take some pressure off Sorokin. That could buy DeBoer some time to make defensive tweaks as the postseason rolls on. And that, at the very least, could help extend the season and give management a better sense of what has to be addressed this summer. — Shayna Goldman, NHL staff writer
