What Went Wrong With the NY Islanders this season?

The New York Islanders entered the 2025-26 season with much uncertainty. Rookie general manager Mathieu Darche made multiple changes to the Islanders' roster, including the deal of staple blue-liner Noah Dobson at the NHL draft for Emil Heineman and two first-round draft picks.

On draft night, Mathieu Darche chose superstar defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall. A major building block for the future. He followed it up with free agency additions Jonathan Drouin, Max Shabanov, and goaltender David Rittich. 

One major question behind the Islander effort entering this season would be Patrick Roy. What would Patrick Roy get out of this hockey club?

After 78 games we have our answer, and now, Roy is out of work.

Entering the Olympic break, the Islanders were 11 games over league .500 and sitting pretty in the playoff picture. So, where did things go wrong for a hockey club that got off to such a promising start?

The first place to look is Ilya Sorokin. The Islanders' franchise net-minder was sensational this season, until he wasn't. Sorokin, 30, had a tiresome season after a shaky start that saw goaltending coach Piero Greco let go just a handful of games into the campaign.

But Sorokin was the backbone of the Islanders for much of the season, blowing out expected goal statistics and being the Islanders' true team MVP. Sorokin led all NHL goalies with 7 shutouts, an impressive feat. But when the schedule turned heavy post Olympic break, similar to a season prior, Patrick Roy ran Ilya Sorokin into the ground.

Sorokin appeared in 56 games for the Islanders this season, much due to the fact that after a hot start, veteran backup David Rittich struggled in the back end of the season. Ilya appeared in 14 consecutive games over the final month of the season. Facing 30-some shots a night on the regular, the onslaught attacks the opponents were able to back end to the Islanders, which cost the team a chance at the playoffs and ultimately cost Patrick Roy his job.

A lackadaisical defensive zone structure allowed opposing teams to pummel pucks at Sorokin all season long. When the days got longer, Sorokin was unable to steal big games for the Islanders as he had all year. There is a new coach, Pete DeBoer, to fix that. 

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