The Islanders are changing the way they handle the crease, and Pete DeBoer is making one thing clear: this won’t be a one-man decision anymore.
That’s a noticeable departure from the Patrick Roy approach. Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie himself, had said early in his tenure that he would leave the call entirely to goaltending coach Piero Greco.
Back in March of 2024, during a trip to Buffalo, Roy put it plainly: "It's Piero [Greco] who makes the decision," Roy said during a trip to Buffalo back in March of 2024. "I support whatever he says.
He knows and feels the guys."
Even after Greco was replaced by Sergei Naumovs early in the 2025-26 season, that philosophy held.
DeBoer, though, said Friday that the Islanders will take a more shared approach as they sort out the workloads for Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, who is back in the NHL after two partial knee replacements. "That'll be a combination of conversations between Sergei [Naumovs], myself, and the two goalies," DeBoer said.
The timing matters because the Islanders have already lived through what happens when Sorokin has to carry the load. Since Varlamov went down with his injury on Nov. 29, 2024, Sorokin has been leaned on heavily, especially late in the season when the playoff push ramps up.
That kind of usage can wear on a goalie, and DeBoer acknowledged Sorokin’s sharpness can dip when the workload piles up. Still, the reality has been simple: Sorokin is the No. 1, and even at less than full freshness, he gives the Islanders their best shot to win.
That’s why DeBoer is thinking ahead now. He said the team may need Sorokin to play game after game again once the stretch run arrives, and the only way that works is if the Islanders build the season with that possibility in mind.
"If we end up in that spot again, I have to make sure I set the table now that he's capable of doing that without being worn out," DeBoer said. "That's exactly why we have to manage that early in the season, because you have to assume we're going to be in a battle right to the wire.
"If we need to run him a bunch of games in a row down the stretch, he has to have enough gas in the tank to do that. You got to set the table for that early in the season."
In Other News...
Islanders Offense Already Feels The Wait For Mathew Barzal
The Islanders opened the season with a loss, and the early absence of Mathew Barzal is already hanging over the lineup. Barzal is dealing with knee inflammation, and while the team has been encouraged by his progress, the offense has not looked especially comfortable without one of its most dynamic playmakers in place.
Anthony Duclair gave the Islanders a brighter note in the opener with a promising showing, and that at least hints at another layer of scoring support once Barzal is back in the mix. For now, though, the bigger question is how long New York has to keep patching together its attack before its top creative engine can rejoin the group. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Get An Important Kuzmenko Step At A Crucial Time
Victor Eklund is getting a longer look in the Islanders top six, a sign of trust for the 19-year-old forward after opening the season in a more limited role. For a young player still carving out his place, moving up the lineup can change the tone of an early-season stretch quickly, especially when the coaching staff starts pairing him with more established talent and asking him to handle a bigger share of the load.
The timing matters for New York because the forward group is still being sorted out, and every shift in usage can ripple through the rest of the lineup. Eklunds rise is one of the more encouraging developments around the club right now, even as the broader division picture keeps shifting and rivals continue to manage their own roster and injury situations. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Face A Tough Darche Test Fans Can Already Feel
Mathieu Darche has made it clear he wants to chase meaningful upgrades for the Islanders, but he also has no interest in gutting the very system he is trying to build. That puts the general manager in a familiar spot for a team still trying to balance a push for help now with the need to protect its future, especially when the roster does not feature an excess of young, inexpensive NHL pieces that can headline trade talks.
So any move the Islanders make has to thread a narrow needle: aggressive enough to improve the team, but careful enough not to drain the prospect pool or future flexibility. Darches stance points to a patient approach, one that values organizational health as much as short-term impact, and it leaves the club facing a difficult market where the best targets usually come with the steepest prices. [Read more 🡒]