The New York Islanders made a dramatic coaching change Sunday, firing Patrick Roy and hiring Peter DeBoer, the former Golden Knights and Stars head coach, with four games left in the regular season. The team has lost four straight and seven of its last 10, slipping from a secure playoff position to needing outside help in a tight Eastern Conference race.
First-year general manager Mathieu Darche announced the decision, calling it a permanent move rather than an interim appointment. DeBoer, 57, most recently served as an assistant coach for Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where the team fell to the U.S. in overtime. He has taken two different franchises to the Stanley Cup Final and led Dallas to three consecutive Western Conference finals before being fired last year.
Roy, a Hall of Fame goaltender and Jack Adams Award winner, was hired by former GM Lou Lamoriello in January 2024 and led the Islanders to a playoff berth that spring. However, the team regressed this season. Despite recent praise from captain Anders Lee — who said Roy “cares about the guys in the room” and that his “messaging this season has been on point” — the slide proved too steep.
“More of preparation was just when everybody arrived here and you’ve got basically three days to prepare, that a lot of the grunt work is done,” DeBoer said of his Olympic experience. “I was involved in the scouting selection process. That was totally different for me and an exciting kind of wrinkle in what we usually normally do as coaches.”
Roy’s tenure ended without the fiery on-ice outbursts that marked his time in Colorado. Winger Ondrej Palat noted, “He seems very calm. On the bench, he could get heated with all the circumstances that happen in a game. But in the room and around the boys, he’s pretty calm and positive.”
The change comes as the Islanders navigate a critical juncture, with rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer leading the Calder Trophy race and several top prospects on the horizon. Darche and the organization hope DeBoer can replicate the success he found earlier in his career.
