Leafs receive permission from Islanders to interview Patrick Roy

The Toronto Maple Leafs received permission from the New York Islanders to interview Patrick Roy for their head coaching position, according to multiple reports.

TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger was the first to report the news Wednesday, writing that the Leafs plan on having Roy, as well as Peter Laviolette, be part of “this week’s stage of the interview process.”

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta confirmed Dreger’s report that Toronto received permission from New York to interview Roy.

The Leafs fired Craig Berube last month after two seasons with the club, going 84-62-18. In 2025-26, they failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.

Roy, 60, spent parts of three seasons behind the bench for the Islanders after being hired in January 2024, posting a 97-78-22 record in the regular season and a 1-4 mark in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He led the team to the postseason in his first year on Long Island, but was fired by the team with just four games remaining in 2025-26, replaced by Pete DeBoer.

Roy also served as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons between 2013-16, finishing with a 130-92-24 record and winning the Jack Adams Award in 2013-14.

The Quebec City native spent the 2022-23 season as the head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, winning both the league championship and the Memorial Cup. Over the course of 13 seasons with the Remparts, Roy accumulated a record of 524-255-66.

Laviolette, 61, most recently coached the New York Rangers, where he was fired in 2024-25 after not making the playoffs.

In nearly 1,600 NHL regular-season games, Laviolette has a record of 846-562-25-161 with the Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and Rangers. He won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 and appeared in two Stanley Cup Finals with the Flyers in 2010 and Predators in 2017.