Patrick Roy was fired by the New York Islanders on Sunday.
The dismissal comes after Roy led the Islanders to a fourth straight regulation loss on Saturday, putting the team’s playoff hopes into significant jeopardy. With the 4-3 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Islanders still sit third in the Metropolitan Division but are only one point shy of being out of the playoffs altogether, and are the only NHL team to have already played 78 games.
To replace Roy, the Islanders are bringing in veteran bench boss Peter DeBoer, who most recently coached the Dallas Stars last season.
DeBoer, who was also an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, led the Stars to three straight Western Conference Finals before being fired last June. He has an overall coaching record of 662-447-152 in 1,261 games over 17 NHL seasons with the Stars, the Vegas Golden Knights, the San Jose Sharks, the New Jersey Devils, and the Florida Panthers.
The 57-year-old Ontario native ranks 18th in NHL history in coaching wins and 22nd in games coached. He has never won a Stanley Cup, falling in the championship series with the 2011-12 Devils and 2015-16 Sharks.
Unlike John Tortorella’s recent deal with the Golden Knights, DeBoer has signed a longer-term contract to stay with the Islanders beyond this season.
Roy’s firing comes after parts of three seasons with the Islanders, starting with his midseason hire during the 2023-24 campaign. He departs with a 97-78-22 record while with the Islanders, leading the team into the playoffs once, a first-round exit in 2024.
New York has given up at least four goals in each of their four recent losses, which includes an embarrassing 8-3 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins last Monday. They are off until Thursday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena.
