3 Off-Season Personnel Decisions for the NY Islanders

Will there be changes within the coaching staff?

If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that Patrick Roy will be back behind the bench next year. While his contract details haven’t been made public, it’s unlikely that he would agree to take over the Islanders without a multi-year deal.

Shortly after Roy took over the helm, he brought in Benoit Derosiers who started the season as the Head Coach of the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL and was an assistant coach under Roy with the Quebec Remparts for five seasons. Derosiers was the only staff member Roy brought in, as all signs point to him being back alongside Roy next season.

Doug Houda and John MacLean joined the Islanders coaching staff under Lane Lambert, remaining with the organization after his departure.

Houda, in charge of the penalty kill, has had total opposite results in his two seasons with the team. Last season the Islanders finished the season successfully killing 82.2% of penalties - good enough for eighth best in the league. This season, all the good things the team did the season before went straight out the window, falling to a league-worst 71.5% - ninth worst in league history. 

Similar to Houda, MacLean, who runs the power play, saw a difference in results over the two seasons. Last season the Islanders finished .2% off the league bottom at 15.%, improving to 20.4% this season. At one point he had his unit in the top 10 of the league, but the power play struggled in the second half of the season, finishing 19th in the league.

With his first training camp ahead of him, there's a chance Roy may want to bring his own guys, eliminating the bench personnel from the Lambert era.