Peter DeBoer Will Use Past Experience To Get NY Islanders on Track

The New York Islanders are a different spot than previous teams Peter DeBoer coached.

Apr 11, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer speaks to the media after their game against the Ottawa Senators at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The biggest move for the 2026-27 season that the New York Islanders made came before the 2025-26 campaign had even come to a close.

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Islanders decided to move on from head coach Patrick Roy. Taking his place on the bench is Peter DeBoer, who brings along with him a specific style of play that has resulted in a lot of success on the ice.

Before joining the Islanders, DeBoer was head coach of the Dallas Stars for three seasons. And for 2.5 seasons before that, it was the Vegas Golden Knights that he was in charge of. Both of those organizations were in a different spot when he took over compared to where the Islanders are now.

The Stars and Knights both had championship aspirations and were built to win. New York hasn’t made the playoffs the last two years, so they don’t carry that same level of expectations, but he will use what he has learned at previous stops to help get the Islanders back to that tier of team.

Peter DeBoer brings plenty of playoff experience to Islanders

May 3, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar shakes hands with Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer after the Stars defeats the Avalanche in game seven of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I don’t think there’s any doubt: a little different spot than those other teams,” DeBoer said in an interview with The Athletic (subscription required), via Peter Baugh. “Having said that, the league has changed dramatically recently. When you look at last year and the teams that missed and the teams that made the playoffs, I don’t think anybody would have predicted some of the teams that missed. … I think there’s the ability for teams to make significant improvement quicker than maybe people think and also fall the other way quicker than people think.”

New York isn’t too far off from being a playoff team in the Eastern Conference. They were right in the mix last season, holding a spot as late as April 6. But their late-season collapse, which goaltender Ilya Sorokin spoke about recently, led to Roy being fired and DeBoer being hired.

He has identified what needs to be worked on to get the team over the hump. DeBoer mentioned cutting down on the chances they gave up and improving a bottom-barrel power play unit.

His tried-and-true system, which has resulted in four trips to the Conference Finals, two Stanley Cup appearances and 97 victories in the postseason, had started to be implemented during those four games to close last season.

With a full offseason to get the players acclimated, the Islanders are in a much better spot than most teams who are playing under a new head coach. That, mixed with the experiences he is bringing along with him from coaching a team with championship expectations, will help put New York on a path to success.