Andrew Gross: New Islanders coach Pete DeBoer brings sense of urgency to four-game playoff pursuit
New York Islanders new head coach Peter DeBoer watches and coaches the team during practice at the Northwell Health Ice Center on Monday, April 6, 2026 in East Meadow. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Pete DeBoer surely has extensive plans on how to build the Islanders into a Stanley Cup contender, aligning his vision for success with that of general manager Mathieu Darche.
Most of that will become clear in September when the team goes through its first training camp under DeBoer.
That doesn’t mean the present — namely, the season-concluding four-game homestand that opens on Thursday night against the Maple Leafs at UBS Arena with the Islanders likely needing to win all four to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs — is separate from the future.
The fifth-place Islanders (42-31-5) are three points behind the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the fourth-place Blue Jackets. They are three points behind the Senators for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot.
So DeBoer’s experienced leadership is needed tout de suite. It’s why Darche made the unorthodox move of firing Patrick Roy with just four games remaining.
Making the playoffs in Matthew Schaefer’s rookie season would have great impact on his development. Ilya Sorokin is having a Vezina Trophy-worthy season. It would behoove the Islanders to take advantage of that in a seven-game series (or two, or three, or four).
To have a chance, the Islanders need to radically improve their play from their season-long four-game losing streak and defeats in seven of their last 10. They’ve been a mess defensively and that’s the first thing DeBoer needs to clean up. The players must have a better understanding of their defensive-zone assignments.
At the same time, DeBoer knows he cannot implement all his changes and reveal his plans en masse.
“The great thing about what he’s done when he’s come in, he really hasn’t been overbearing or anything,” Mathew Barzal said. “He’s just been precise.”
“He’s a very detailed-oriented coach,” said Bo Horvat, who had his first experience with the Islanders' new bench boss during February’s Olympics as DeBoer was a Team Canada assistant running the defense. “He’s done a lot of great things in this league. He’s been in the playoffs numerous amounts of times, the Stanley Cup Finals [with the Devils in 2012 and the Sharks in 2016]. He knows what it takes to get to that next level. We’re lucky to have him. We’ve just got to go out there and do it now.”
DeBoer will head into his Islanders debut with the luxury of having three practice days in a row, an extreme rarity in an NHL season.
“The guys are working,” DeBoer said. “They’re engaged. There’s a lot of things there that we’re trying to kind of tweak, throwing a lot of information at them. That’s the fine line you try to walk as a coach, not to overwhelm them. Because the most important thing here is that we’ve got four games in six nights and we’ve got to be ready to play.”
It’s a daunting task. The Senators are at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon and the playoff-bound Canadiens come in Sunday before the Islanders close the season against the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes on Tuesday.
If DeBoer somehow coaxes this team into the playoffs, he will look like an absolute genius and certainly there will be some spillover benefits heading into his first full season with the Islanders.
If they miss the playoffs but play well, DeBoer again looks good and it can be asked of Darche why the change wasn’t made sooner.
But if the Islanders stumble and continue to play uninspired hockey, yes, some of that will stick to DeBoer even though he’s new to these parts.
The urgency was clear in the practices. DeBoer spent a lot of time at the whiteboard, diagramming drills.
“Honestly, I’m drinking through a fire hose here right now, trying to get up to speed,” DeBoer said. “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t be spending as much time at the whiteboard. But when you get a call and 12 hours later you’re running a practice with four games left and a playoff spot on the line, you’re trying to do the best you can to get that information to the guys without paralyzing them with overthinking.”
The first feedback to DeBoer’s early work with the Islanders comes Thursday night.
His impact needs to be immediate.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
