New York Islanders GM Mathieu Darche announced at his introductory press conference that head coach Patrick Roy will remain behind the bench for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season.
“Patrick is a winner. He had success when he came here the first year, he had success,” Darche said. “I went to meet with him last week to get to know him more and I’m extremely comfortable and excited to be working with him. I know he’s passionate and he works hard.”
Roy, who has amassed a 55-47-17 record since replacing Lane Lambert on January 20th 2024, will get another shot to try to guide the Isles back to the playoffs after the team fell short this year. The team did however announce that assistants John MacLean (hired in 2022) and Tommy Albelin (hired in 2024) would not be returning next season.
“It’s my decision to make changes to the coaching staff and [Patrick Roy and I] will work together to fill the assistant coaches position,” Darche continued.
The final coaching announcement came regarding the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders, who will see a complete overhaul of its coaching staff next season. Head coach Rick Kowalsky and his staff were informed that the team would be moving in another direction shortly after Darche’s appointment as GM.
“I believe in developing in the winning environment,” Darche said. “The AHL will definitely be a focus for me because your players have to be ready because, let’s face it, every team needs players called up during the year.”
New York went 35-35-12 last year, coming up 9 points shy of New Jersey for 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. The club once again struggled to put points on the board, registering the 5th fewest goals per game in the league at 2.71 per contest.
A big reason for that was their dismal power play, which was 2nd worst across The NHL at 12.6% in 2024-25. Only the Anaheim Ducks’ 11.8% mark was worse than Roy’s club in that department.
Their penalty kill unfortunately wasn’t much better, once again registering as the 2nd worst in the league at 72.2%. As a result, one can safely assume that whomever the team taps to be Roy’s new assistants will have extensive special teams experience under their belt.
Darche would go on to announce the first summer development camp for the Islanders prospects since 2019. “It’s important, that’s your first touch on the player,” Darche said of development camp. “You draft a player and you show him what it is to be a professional. The kids, they all think they’re ready when they get to the NHL and go alright, that’s what it means to be strong for the NHL. You show them what the standards are in the gym, what the standards are in the NHL, and it’s your first touch on them.”
A summer camp will allow for NCAA prospects to attend without fear of a fall camp conflicting with their collegiate schedules.
Photo: slgckgc. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.