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Clinging to a playoff spot with four regular-season games remaining, the New York Islanders brought in head coach Peter DeBoer to replace Patrick Roy on Apr. 5, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHLI via Getty Images
Clinging tenuously to a playoff spot, the New York Islanders have made a coaching change with four games left to play in the 2025-26 NHL regular season. After two and a half seasons behind the bench, Patrick Roy is out and Peter DeBoer is in.
The move comes with the Islanders mired in a four-game losing streak in which they were outscored 20-10. Heading into games on Sunday, New York sits third in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 42-31-5 for 89 points. However, four teams sit right behind them with 88 points and the Washington Capitals have 87. All five of those clubs have played one or two fewer games than the Islanders.
The good news for DeBoer is that he’ll have a few days to get his bearings. The Islanders’ next game isn’t until Thursday, when they kick off their season-ending four-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The bad news is that New York will almost certainly be on the outside of the playoff picture by then. That could happen as early as Sunday, with four teams in action that could immediately affect New York’s playoff position.
DeBoer Arrives Amid Tight Playoff Race
The Philadelphia Flyers, with 88 points, host the Boston Bruins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and the Capitals visit the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. ET. Both those Metropolitan Division teams would pass the Islanders with a win, as the Capitals hold the edge in the tiebreaker of regulation wins.
The Ottawa Senators could also play a role. Though they’re in the Atlantic Division, they’re currently in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 88 points and play the Carolina Hurricanes at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. Another Atlantic team, the Detroit Red Wings, is kicking off Sunday’s action at home against the Minnesota Wild, and also has the potential of moving into the second wild-card spot.
Seeking Stanley
DeBoer arrives with a reputation for success. The 57-year-old hasn’t won a Stanley Cup, but coached the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in his second NHL head-coaching job in 2012, then did the same with the San Jose Sharks in 2016. He also got the Sharks to the Western Conference Final in 2019, then got to the final four with the Vegas Golden Knights in the pandemic-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons and reached the Western Conference Final in all three of his seasons with the Dallas Stars from 2023-25.
All told, DeBoer is fifth among active coaches with 1,261 NHL games, and holds a record of 662-447-152.
He was fired by Dallas last June after the team’s second-straight final-four loss to the Edmonton Oilers, amid reports that he had clashed with his players during the playoff run. In short, DeBoer has a reputation as a successful but demanding coach who isn’t afraid to make hard decisions. He typically gets strong early results but his runway is relatively short before his tactics begin to cause friction.
That’s a similar profile to hard-driving Bruce Cassidy, who was replaced by John Tortorella on the Vegas bench just one week ago. After looking shaky under Cassidy in the lead-up to the playoffs, Vegas has won three straight under Tortorella and is now just one point out of first place in the Pacific Division.
Roy’s Legacy
Roy was hired by the Islanders on Jan. 20, 2024, replacing Lane Lambert in his first NHL head-coaching job since leaving the Colorado Avalanche in 2016. The Hockey Hall of Fame member posted a record of 97-78-22 on Long Island and coached one playoff round in the spring of 2024, where the Islanders fell in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Best known for their four-straight Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1983, the Islanders had a two-year surge under coach Barry Trotz during the pandemic years, reaching the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 playoff bubble, then losing to the Lightning again in the semi-final in 2021. Since then, they’ve had two playoff misses and two first-round eliminations.
Schaefer’s Arrival
In 2024-25, the Islanders finished nine points out of a playoff spot. That led to a change at the general manager position in late May. Already armed with the top pick at the 2025 NHL Draft, new GM Mathieu Darche hit a home run when he selected high-character blueliner Mathieu Schaefer. Stepping seamlessly into NHL action, the 18-year-old has broken multiple records for teenage defenders with his 22 goals, 58 points and 24:38 of average ice time in his first 78 pro games — the most ice time on his team by a wide margin.
Schaefer’s dominance has heralded a fresh optimism on Long Island that is in danger of being squandered if the team fails to play in the post-season.
The Islanders have also enjoyed an excellent season from goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who boasts a .909 save percentage, a league-leading seven shutouts and is ranked second behind Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins at 27.3 goals saved above expected this season by MoneyPuck.
But Sorokin’s work has only earned him a record of 28-22-2. The Islanders are tied for fifth-fewest goals allowed per game heading into Sunday’s action at 2.87 but sit 23rd in the NHL with just 2.85 goals scored per game. The power play has been a particular problem, ranked 30th at just 16.7 percent, and is just 3-for-20 over the last eight games.
Why Now?
When he was hired, Darche said he’d keep an open mind about Roy’s future with the team. But it’s not unusual for a new GM to hire his own coach.
By acting now, Darche isn’t just taking a swing at saving this season. He’s also getting ahead of his competition.
The Golden Knights and the Columbus Blue Jackets will both be re-assessing their coaching situations during the off-season, as Tortorella and Rick Bowness are both under contract only until the end of the year. Additionally, the coaching situation in Toronto is under scrutiny after GM Brad Treliving’s dismissal last Monday. More vacancies are also likely arise after season’s end and, the way things are going, possibly even before.
In 2025, 10 of 32 NHL teams made coaching changes between Mar. 27 and July 1. Roy’s dismissal is the fourth this season. All have come since January.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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