Peter DeBoer wants to see more movement on the NY Islanders' power play

The NY Islanders’ power play has been in shambles for years. Finishing in the bottom half of the league in PP% every year since 2021-22, Peter DeBoer will look to improve the man-advantage in his first full season at the helm.

What has been a stagnant power play, DeBoer is emphasizing movement amongst the players on both units. 

DeBoer wants more movement on the PP

“The good power plays are interchangeable,” DeBoer said today after introducing the power play for the first time today at camp. “There’s a lot of motion, there’s a lot of movement, there’s a lot of guys moving to different parts of the ice. They’re interchangeable in their positioning. I felt this group was really stagnant. Almost deferring to ‘oh, well that’s my spot there, that’s your spot.' That’s a small piece of it. There’s a lot of other things, but I think that’s probably the biggest thing is using the whole zone and being interchangeable, like all the elite power plays are.”

Finishing last season at 16.5% on the PP, 30th in the NHL, the Islanders will need to improve that significantly if they hope to contend for a playoff position. It’s been clear as day that the Islanders had little movement while on the man-advantage, making it easy for the opposition to defend. 

“We have positions we want to start in that you pencil in, but then you’ve got to play hockey,” DeBoer said. “You can’t get married to your spot at the expense of having a good power play.”

With Mat Barzal absent from training camp, the power play practiced without their quarterback. The first unit consisted of Matthew Schaefer, Kyle Palmieri, Brayden Schenn, Cal Ritchie, and Bo Horvat. The second unit included Tony DeAngelo, Matias Maccelli, Anthony Duclair, Simon Holmstrom, and Emil Heineman. 

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