The NY Islanders fire goaltending coach Piero Greco and promote Sergei Naumov

The NY Islanders made a change within their coaching staff this morning, moving on from goaltending coach Piero Greco and promoting Sergei Naumov from Bridgeport, as first reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Greco, who has been with the organization since 2018, worked alongside Mitch Korn through the 2023-24 season. Once Korn reunited with Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators, Greco remained with the Islanders as the goaltending coach last season. 

The Islanders fire Greco and promote Naumov

The last of the staff remaining from the Lou Lamoriello era, Greco was integral in the Islanders' recent success at goaltender, working with Robin Lehner, Thomas Greiss, Semyon Varlamov, and Ilya Sorokin.

"Piero has done a great job for this organization for the last seven years. We just felt it was the right timing to reset with our goalies." Isles GM Mathieu Darche said this morning. "There's obviously a history with Sergei and Ilya, and we just made the decision going forward, just a reset for our goalies."

Naumov, who was hired by the Islanders last season, spent the year with the Bridgeport Islanders and will now work alongside Chris Terreri, the Islanders' Director of Goaltending. Before taking a job in the NHL, Naumov spent six seasons as the goaltending coach with CSKA Moscow in the KHL, playing a vital part in Sorokin’s development before joining the Islanders.

Sorokin became one of the most dominant netminders in Russian hockey under Naumov, seeing that success immediately transferred to North America. 

But last season, Sorokin's numbers dropped below his career averages and he has had a shaky start to the 2025-26 season. 

Reunited with his former coach, the hope is that Sorokin returns to his Vezina-caliber status with the comfort of Naumovs alongside him.