New York Islanders May Retain Patrick Roy
Even after firing him as the head coach a few days ago, the relationship between the New York Islanders and Patrick Roy may not be fully severed. According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News (and first reported by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan), there is a growing likelihood that the Islanders will retain Roy in a scouting capacity.
Although General Manager Mathieu Darche was discontent with Roy leading the Islanders from the bench, he never grew discontent with Roy personally or professionally. In the report, Rosner said, “Darche & Roy became incredibly close over this season. Roy has great respect & admiration for the org, the players here, so it wouldn’t shock me if he stayed onboard in some capacity.”
If the Islanders do retain Roy as a scout, it would be the first time he’s been employed in the role in his post-playing career. Still, even as a “rookie” scout, Roy has as much professional experience as you could want.
Even without factoring in his illustrious 19-year playing career, Roy has been involved in the game at various levels since. After retiring following the 2002-03 season, Roy became the Vice President of Hockey Operations for the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, where he also owned the franchise.
Until becoming the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Roy also served as the Remparts General Manager and head coach. Following his departure from the Avalanche in 2016, Roy returned to his role with the Remparts, where he stayed until taking the job with the Islanders.
Given his experience at various levels of the game, Roy should have no issues being a productive scout at the amateur or professional setting. Still, it takes two to tango, and no reports indicate that Roy would be interested in a scouting role. The NHL offseason is only a few months away, and Roy will likely make a firm decision over the summer.
New York Islanders Fire Patrick Roy, Hire Peter DeBoer
The New York Islanders announced that head coach Patrick Roy has been relieved of his duties, and the team has hired former Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer as his replacement. The move comes with four games remaining in the Islanders’ regular-season schedule.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that, unlike other recent mid-season coaching changes, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ hire of Rick Bowness and the Vegas Golden Knights’ hire of John Tortorella, this hire has not been made with just a one-year term. DeBoer’s contract to coach the Islanders includes multiple years. Specifically, DeBoer will reportedly be signed through the 2028-29 season per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. This deal will align with Mathieu Darche’s GM contract. Roy had two years remaining on his deal as Islanders coach, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
Just one week ago, it looked as though the Islanders were on their way to the playoffs. New York won three games on its four-game homestand, and although a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was deflating, a regulation win over the rival Blue Jackets gave the team a significant boost. New York sat second in the Metropolitan Division, three points clear of their closest out-of-the-playoffs division rival.
The Islanders have not won since that victory over the Panthers. They suffered an 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30, paving the way for Pittsburgh to vault to the No. 2 spot in the division. They lost to the Buffalo Sabres the following day and have since dropped games to divisional rivals (Philadelphia and Carolina) on back-to-back days.
With playoff odds that once looked relatively certain, the Islanders have responded to a rapid, albeit relatively brief downturn in on-ice fortunes by making a coaching change. Their decision to swap coaches, likely in search of a spark to keep the team in a playoff position, is similar to the aforementioned decision by the Golden Knights to fire Bruce Cassidy in favor of John Tortorella.
Roy himself arrived in New York as part of an in-season coaching change. The 60-year-old, who was widely considered one of the greatest goalies of all time during his playing days, won the Jack Adams award as coach of the year in 2013-14. He went 20-12-5 in his first season with the Islanders, leading them to the playoffs, where they would fall in five games in the first round. The team took a step back last season, going 35-35-12, but appeared to have rebounded this season.
Fueled by star rookie Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders were one of the league’s resurgent organizations. Their prospect pool has significantly improved (rising from No. 25 in the NHL to No. 12 in just one year, according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler rankings), and, just a week ago, they looked poised to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence. But the last week has not been kind to the Islanders, as mentioned, and, with time running out to secure a playoff spot, they decided to swap coaches.
DeBoer comes in a little under a year after his tenure in Dallas came to a shocking end. The Stars reached the Western Conference Finals in all three seasons he was at the helm and compiled a 149-68-29 (.665) regular-season record, his best run with any of the five NHL teams he’s coached and the best regular-season record in the league from 2022 to 2025. Their inability to get past the third round, plus his decision to pull star goaltender Jake Oettinger after he allowed two goals on his first two shots faced in what became a season-ending Game 5 loss to the Oilers last year, ended up resulting in one of the more high-profile firings in recent memory. They waited to ultimately relieve him of his duties after all the other coaching vacancies last offseason had been filled, leading to him not being on an NHL bench for the first 95% of the season.
One could argue that DeBoer is the most accomplished active coach without a Stanley Cup ring. He has an exceptional record of deep playoff runs, particularly in his first couple of years with a club, and has reached a Conference Final in six of the last eight seasons. Despite the Isles now being his sixth team in the last 18 years, he’s been behind an NHL bench as head coach for at least one game every year since breaking into the league with the Panthers in 2008.
DeBoer’s 662 wins are 18th all-time, and he has a 662-447-152 (.525) lifetime record across 1,261 regular-season games with Florida, New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas, and Dallas. Only Barry Trotz had more experience as a new head coach hire in team history.
DeBoer now must correct a four-game losing streak in regulation to help the Isles recover. Their playoff odds had dropped to 31.4% ahead of today’s games, per MoneyPuck, with all the teams chasing them having one or multiple games in hand.
Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed significantly to this article.
Islanders Fire Assistant Coaches John MacLean, Tommy Albelin
Speaking to reporters this morning, new Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche confirmed the club will retain head coach Patrick Roy (via the team). The bench on Long Island will look different next season, though. Darche said the team won’t be bringing back assistant coaches John MacLean or Tommy Albelin, per Arthur Staple of The Athletic. The club has also relieved AHL Bridgeport head coach Rick Kowalsky of his duties, Darche said (according to Ethan Sears of the New York Post). It sounds like the entire minor-league coaching staff will be overhauled as well, per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News.
Roy’s status for next season was briefly doubtful after the Isles parted ways with GM Lou Lamoriello last month. However, after Darche’s hire, it became clear that the appetite for a coaching change wasn’t strong, especially with three years remaining on Roy’s contract. The Islanders may have missed the playoffs in 2024-25, Roy’s first full season behind the bench, but the team’s possession metrics indicated he deserved another shot. Poor special teams and finishing luck were the primary limiting factors regarding New York’s record last season, not overall 5-on-5 possession play. Under Roy, the team controlled a slight majority of shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger chances at even strength.
It’s unsurprising to see new ancillary voices brought in as the franchise aims for a fresher identity under Darche. The Islanders’ combined special teams success rate of 84.8% was the worst in the league, ranking 31st out of 32 clubs in both power-play and penalty-kill conversion rate.
MacLean was in charge of that power play. He’s been with the club as an assistant since the 2022-23 season, and only the Ducks and Flyers have performed worse with the man advantage than the Isles’ 16.4% success rate over those three years. The 60-year-old oversaw the NHL debut of his son, Kyle MacLean, on Long Island during his tenure.
Albelin’s time in New York ends after just one season. The longtime NHL rearguard oversaw the Isles’ defense and penalty kill, the latter of which actually saw a 0.7% improvement from their league-worst finish in 2023-24. The team’s 5-on-5 defense also improved from year to year under Albelin, ranking 21st in the league in scoring chances allowed at 5-on-5 after placing 28th last year. Nonetheless, they’ll look to get a new name in there that both Darche and Roy agree upon.
The Bridgeport coaching staff overhaul comes across the wire as one of the least surprising news items of the offseason. The Baby Isles made history as the worst home team in AHL history in 2024-25 with just four wins in 36 games. Overall, Bridgeport finished last in the league by a huge margin with a 15-50-4-3 record. Kowalsky, who’s worked closely with the outgoing Lamoriello throughout his coaching career in the Isles and Devils organizations, also oversaw a last-place finish in their division in 2023-24.
As for the NHL staff, the only returning assistant will be Benoit Desrosiers, whom Roy worked closely with as head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He joined the Isles’ staff shortly after Roy did, midway through the 2023-24 season.
Islanders Notes: Lamoriello, Roy, Mayfield, Bortuzzo, Martin, Clutterbuck
The Islanders held their end-of-season press availability today after being eliminated in the first round in five games at the hands of the Hurricanes. Most notably, general manager Lou Lamoriello confirmed that he and Patrick Roy will be back in their respective roles with the team for 2024-25 (via NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner).
However, Lamoriello said (via Rosner) that no decision has been made other than retaining Roy on next year’s coaching staff. That leaves Benoit Desrosiers’s future, who was appointed by the Isles midseason after Roy was hired to replace the fired Lane Lambert and had worked with Roy on the bench for the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts for the past few years, up in the air. It’s also now unclear if assistants Doug Houda and John MacLean, as well as goaltending coach Piero Greco, will return to the club for 2024-25.
There will be immense pressure on the 81-year-old Lamoriello this offseason to add talent to a solid-structured existing core. The Isles are dangerously approaching permanent mediocrity territory, making the postseason in back-to-back seasons but never coming close to winning a round since their third-round appearance in 2021. He’s been at the helm of the Islanders since 2018, during which time the team has only missed the playoffs once (2022).
Other notable tidbits from the Isles today:
- After undergoing season-ending surgery in late March, defenseman Scott Mayfield expects to be ready to go for training camp in the fall, he said today (via The Athletic’s Arthur Staple). The 31-year-old revealed he played through a broken ankle that he sustained in the season opener for most of the year, finally getting shut down and placed on LTIR with around six weeks left in the campaign. Playing in 41 games this season, he was limited to five assists and a -7 rating while averaging 18:46 per game, his lowest usage in five years. After inking him to a seven-year, $24.5MM extension last summer, the Islanders are hoping theirs and Mayfield’s decision to put off surgery doesn’t inhibit his skating ability long-term.
- Pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Robert Bortuzzo would like to stay on Long Island this summer but doesn’t yet have an indication of where extension talks will go, he said today (via Newsday’s Andrew Gross). Lamoriello acquired the veteran shutdown blue liner from the Blues in early December for a 2024 seventh-round pick. After finishing the regular season with no points and a -2 rating in 23 games while averaging 14:19 per night, the 35-year-old isn’t in a position to earn a raise on his previous $950K AAV.
- The Isles have a pair of much longer-tenured pending UFAs in fourth-line fixtures Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck. There had been existing speculation that the aging grinders would consider retirement, but they each said today that won’t be the case (Twitter/X links). Martin’s spent 13 of his 15 NHL seasons in an Islanders uniform, totaling 73 goals and 155 points in 823 games. The 34-year-old played only 9:19 per game this season, his lowest average as an Islander, and registered four goals and eight points in 57 games. Clutterbuck, 36, has appeared in 718 games with the team since 2013 but played in all 82 games this season for the first time, posting seven goals and 19 points while averaging 11:53 per game.
Metropolitan Notes: Islanders, Laine, Pacioretty
The New York Islanders are considering hiring a third assistant coach for new head coach Patrick Roy’s staff, though Roy noted that the decision will be up to general manager Lou Lamoriello, not Roy’s, per team reporter Ethan Sears with the New York Post.
The Islanders are 1-2-0 after a week under their new head coach, with the team seeing a small drop in average goals for and against compared to the 45 games they played under Lane Lambert this season. They’ve also seen a substantial boost in their powerplay in the short sample of games, raising their powerplay percentage from 22.8 to 27 percent. Roy’s last coaching stint in the NHL came between 2013 and 2016 when he served as head coach for the Colorado Avalanche. The legendary goaltender set a combined 130-92-24 record with the Avalanche, making the playoffs once.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division
- Star Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine has experienced a setback in his injury and is no longer expected to play before the end of the team’s current three-game road trip, per team reporter Brian Hedger. The trip takes the Blue Jackets up to the All-Star Break. If Laine does indeed sit out the trip, his next chance to return will come on Saturday, February 10th when the Blue Jackets host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- Washington Capitals winger Max Pacioretty experienced a lower-body injury in the team’s Saturday afternoon overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. Few details have been provided about Pacioretty’s injury, other than that it is not linked to the Achilles tendon injury that held the winger out of the first 35 games of the season, per team reporter Tom Gulitti. He’s since appeared in 11 games, netting one goal and seven points.
Morning Notes: Laine, Werenski, Byram, Engvall
Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine are expected to return on the five-game road trip the Columbus Blue Jackets begin on Tuesday. Laine has missed the team’s last 14 games with a broken collarbone, while Werenski has missed 10 games with an ankle injury.
The Blue Jackets went 3-4-3 without their pair of top talents, averaging just 2.7 goals-for and 4.1 goals-against. Werenski’s return will mark the most notable impact, as the 26-year-old defenseman still ranks third on the team in scoring – with one goal and 25 points in 34 games – despite missing 11 games on the season. Laine hasn’t been as productive, boasting six goals and nine points in 18 games, though he was on a hot streak before his injury – netting five points in his last six games. The duo have become pivotal to Columbus’ success, and frequent absentees from the lineup. Laine posted 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games last season, while Werenski was only able to appear in 13 games – and score eight points – as he missed most of the season with a torn labrum and separated shoulder. The Blue Jackets will hope both players can find a newfound bout of health upon their return, as they work to improve on a season that currently has them ranked in the league’s bottom five.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Colorado Avalanche have activated defenseman Bowen Byram off on injured reserve. The 22-year-old defenseman has appeared in 39 of Colorado’s 47 games this season, netting 12 points split evenly. He’s managed the scoring while serving in a top-end role, averaging over 20 minutes of ice time – though it’s a step down from the nearly 22 minutes of ice time Byram averaged in 42 games last season. Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski will likely step out of the lineup to make space for Byram, though one of the two could still see ice time as the Avalanche have opted for seven defensemen recently.
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Stefen Rosner of NHL.com is reporting that New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall is feeling better and has returned to full contact at Islanders practice. The 27-year-old has been dealing with an upper-body injury and has not suited up for New York since a 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on January 15th. Engvall’s style of play should be well suited for new head coach Patrick Roy’s system as puck possession remains a strong suit for the former seventh-round pick. Engvall’s numbers are down a bit this season as has just five goals and nine assists in 41 games this season. His shooting percentage has plummeted to just 7.5% down from a career-high 13% last season. There is no timetable yet for Engvall to return to the Islanders lineup.
Evening Notes: Bedard, Skinner, Islanders
Jay Zawaski of CHGO Sports is reporting that Chicago Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard is still expected to miss at least six weeks as he recovers from a fractured jaw that he suffered on January 5th. Bedard started skating last week in a full-face shield but is unable to exert himself as he tries to allow his jawbone to heal from the surgery he had.
The six-week timeline was given to the media by Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, who was referring to the original timeline for Bedard’s return. Richardson added that Bedard will need to go through imaging and a medical clearance before he can ramp up his skating and return to action.
The 18-year-old leads all NHL rookies with 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games. He was named to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game a few weeks ago but is unlikely to attend given that the game will be held on February 3rd.
In other evening notes:
- Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner has shared that he is close to returning, and nearly played in the team’s Saturday loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Skinner has been out of the lineup since January 9th with an upper-body injury, missing five games. He’s remained one of Buffalo’s leading scorers despite the absences, though, sitting third on the team with 33 points through 38 games. Skinner also leads the team with 17 goals.
- The New York Islanders refuted an earlier report from RDS’ Stephane Leroux that the team was hiring Benoit Desrosiers as an assistant coach under new bench boss Patrick Roy. The statement added that Islanders General Manager and President Lou Lamoriello does plan to meet with Desrosiers in the future, but he has not been hired at this time. Desrosiers spent five seasons as Roy’s assistant with the Remparts and won the Memorial Cup in 2023. He was hired as the head coach of the Gatineau Olympiques for this season but has had a rough start as the team currently sits seventh in the Western Conference of the QMJHL with a record of 15-26-4.
Patrick Roy Resigns From QMJHL’s Québec Remparts
9:56 a.m. CT: Roy told the media this morning that “absolutely [no]” NHL team has reached out to him yet about a coaching position.
9:35 a.m. CT: NHL head coaching hopeful Patrick Roy announced today he’s leaving his post with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, reports TVA Sports. Roy and his Remparts just won the 2023 Memorial Cup, defeating the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds with a shutout win in the final game.
It’s quite auspicious timing for the announcement, given the sale of the Ottawa Senators to Michael Andlauer was agreed upon in principle this morning. Roy, who’s been connected to Senators coaching vacancies in the past, could be a leading candidate if the team decides to move on from D.J. Smith behind the bench this summer under new ownership.
Roy last coached in the NHL in 2016, serving as the head coach and VP of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche before abruptly quitting during training camp preceding the 2016-17 campaign. He was succeeded by Jared Bednar, who guided the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup in over two decades in 2022.
After taking two years off, Roy returned to the Remparts as GM and head coach in 2018. Before joining the Avalanche, he had been Québec’s coach between 2005 and 2013 and general manager since retiring from the NHL in 2003. He also owned the Remparts from 1997 to 2014.
Roy has a penchant for a defensive style of play as a coach, an area where the Senators have struggled in recent seasons. One would argue, though, with the standout individual defensive performances of players like Artem Zub, that it’s more of a personnel issue than a coaching one. Nevertheless, if he does end up behind the Senators’ bench, improving the team’s defensive systems would be his first priority.
Coaching Notes: Roy, Flames, Strand
As the New York Rangers remain on the search for a new head coach, an interesting name appeared in rumors. Patrick Roy, who has been the head coach of the QMJHL Quebec Remparts for the last five seasons, recently winning the 2023 Memorial Cup, was thought to be a proper candidate to take over for the Rangers behind the bench.
Today, Mollie Walker of the New York Post, reports that New York is not considering Roy for the role, and he will not be given an interview for the position. Although Roy has indicated this year will be his last in Quebec, it was unknown whether or not he was interested in the Rangers head coaching position. Aside from a three-year stretch as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the mid-2010s, Roy has been involved with the Remparts in some fashion since 1997.
Currently, the Rangers are only one of two teams without a head coach for the 2023-24 NHL season, joining the Calgary Flames. In recent reporting, it appears that New York has whittled their list down to two candidates, John Hynes, and Peter Laviolette. Up to this point, there have been no links drawn between Roy and Calgary, but they still remain in the early stages of their search compared to New York.
Other notes:
- Continuing on with the Flames’ head coaching search, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports that Calgary is down to “4-5 candidates” and will begin the second round of interviews this week. With two major positions to fill this summer, it is not surprising that the Flames are taking a bit longer to fill their head coaching role, after naming former player Craig Conroy as General Manager late last month. Calgary appears to have a desire for a newer face in the league, likely eliminating names like Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, and Bruce Boudreau from contention.
- Today, USA Hockey announced the head coach of their 2023 United States U18 Select Team, which will be competing in the 2023 Hlkina Gretzky Cup. Luke Strand, who was also recently named head coach of the Minnesota State University men’s team, replacing the void left by Mike Hastings, who took a job at the University of Wisconsin, will take over behind the bench. It has been quite the rise for Strand over the last several years. After having spent five seasons as the head coach of the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, he spent last season as an assistant coach for Ohio State University.
Coaching Notes: Gallant, Roy, Blue Jackets
While four teams remain battling for the Stanley Cup, many teams have turned their attention to the offseason and are working behind the scenes to fill out their managerial and coaching vacancies. One team with a high profile opening behind the bench is the Calgary Flames. Darryl Sutter won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in 2022 but was fired by the team earlier this month.
According to Darren Dreger of TSN on Insider Trading, a prominent name that could end up in Calgary is Gerard Gallant. He was recently let go by the New York Rangers following a 107 point season, and is one of the most experienced coaches available on the open market. Gallant also has experience working with a couple of key players in Calgary, as he was the head coach in Florida when Jonathan Huberdeau and Mac Weegar played there. Both players struggled to play their best hockey in their first season in Calgary and could be reinvigorated with Gallant behind the bench. Dreger mentions the Flames will look at internal candidates, such as Mitch Love who is the head coach of the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, but Gallant remains one of the top candidates for the Flames job.
- Also on Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports Patrick Roy could be looking to take another swing at an NHL head coaching job. Roy is the head coach of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL and just won a league title on the weekend. He will be behind their bench at the upcoming Memorial Cup which begins Friday, but LeBrun mentions he recently changed agents and NHL teams have already reached out to gauge interest in having Roy return to an NHL bench. LeBrun mentions the openings with the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals as jobs that would interest Roy but we will see how things shake out in the coming weeks.
- Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch reports the Columbus Blue Jackets are not searching in the bargain bin for their next head coach. The team fired Brad Larsen after finishing 31st in the league this past season. Hedger reports the team is prepared to spend what it takes to land a new coach. He mentions the team is willing to hand out an annual salary of $4MM for the right bench boss but the number would be dependent on the candidate. One potential candidate can be found in house as Hedger also mentions Pascal Vincent is in the running for one, or more, NHL coaching vacancies suggesting a few teams are looking at the Blue Jackets assistant coach.