Islanders’ Darche on DeBoer hiring: ‘It’s like grabbing the No. 1 free agent on the market’
The top hockey executive on Long Island is excited about his latest move.
When speaking to the media on Monday, New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche compared hiring Pete DeBoer as the team’s new head coach to signing the big-fish player in the offseason.
“Guys like Pete DeBoer don’t stay off the market very long,” Darche explained. “It’s like grabbing the number one free agent on the market.”
A day prior, Darche and the Islanders announced that Patrick Roy had been relieved of his duties as head coach, with DeBoer taking his place. It comes as the team has been stumbling as of late, losing four games in a row and falling outside the top three in the Metropolitan Division and out of playoff contention.
Darche admitted that getting rid of Roy wasn’t an easy choice, but he felt that it was a necessary move if the Isles want to turn things around.
“I just felt it was time to move the group forward. It was time to make a change. It was a tough thing to do yesterday. But sometimes you have to make those decisions.”
The Islanders reportedly signed DeBoer to a contract that will carry through the end of the 2028-29 season.
Roy was also a midseason hire by the Isles, stepping into the role after Lane Lambert was fired in January 2024. Early returns were good, as he guided the Islanders to a postseason berth that season. However, after the team missed the postseason this year and its most recent downfall, Darche decided enough was enough and that the Isles needed to make a change to save the season.
DeBoer was last seen behind the bench as a head coach last spring, when the Dallas Stars were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers for the second year in a row. Amid a tumultuous saga that included his poor management of goaltender Jake Oettinger, DeBoer was fired.
Despite the unceremonious end in Dallas, the former Vegas Golden Knights coach has experience getting teams deep into the postseason. He coached his squads to the West Final in six of the past seven seasons and guided the New Jersey Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.
In his career, DeBoer has a regular-season record of 662-447-152, with a 97-82 mark in the postseason.
DeBoer will debut as head coach of the Isles this Thursday, when the team hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Islanders (42-31-5) are fourth in the Metro, just one point back of the Philadelphia Flyers for third.