Islanders fire Roy, hire DeBoer with 4 games left
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Mathieu Darche announced the firing of Patrick Roy on Sunday with four games left, naming Peter DeBoer as his full-time replacement — the second NHL coach fired in eight days after the Vegas Golden Knights parted ways with Bruce Cassidy.
- New York Islanders have lost four straight and seven of their past 10, sliding from a comfortable playoff spot to needing help in a tight Eastern Conference race.
- DeBoer, 57, joins fresh off serving as a Canada assistant at the Milan Cortina Olympics and brings a résumé that includes two Stanley Cup Final appearances and three consecutive Western Conference finals trips with the Dallas Stars before his firing last year.
- Roy, a Hall of Fame goaltender hired by former GM Lou Lamoriello in January 2024, had two years left on his deal and was in his second NHL head coaching job after winning the Jack Adams Award with Colorado (2013-2016).
- Ilya Sorokin was the focal point of the decision, per a source, with the organization concluding it was leaving its franchise goaltender too exposed and needing a stronger defensive structure.
- Rookie of the Year front-runner Matthew Schaefer, 18, has been a revelation this season, with several other top prospects on the way — making the timing of the coaching change a pivotal one for the franchise's trajectory.
Why it matters: The Islanders are swapping coaches with four games left while their playoff spot is suddenly in danger, paying DeBoer on top of the money still owed to Roy (two years remaining) and the Stars (one year). The stated reason — protecting Sorokin and fixing defensive structure — signals a short-term survival bet on a roster that also has a generational rookie (Schaefer) and top prospects arriving, meaning the next coach's mandate is both to make the playoffs now and to integrate youth fast.
