Islanders Just Sent A Clear Message About Player Development

The New York Islanders bolster their performance team with key appointments, aiming to enhance player fitness and development across all organizational levels.

The Islanders are making a notable change behind the scenes, adding Bryan Marshall as Director of Player Performance and bringing Andrew Kacsor in as a Strength and Conditioning Coach alongside Joe Erdos.

Marshall will oversee the organization’s strength and conditioning program across every level, including the NHL club, the AHL team and the prospects. Kacsor’s arrival gives the department another layer, with the Islanders tapping him to work directly with Erdos in the day-to-day performance setup.

General Manager and Executive Vice President Mathieu Darche praised both hires, saying, "Bryan and Andrew are outstanding additions to our performance staff. Bryan's track record of developing elite athletes at every level of the player’s development process, combined with Andrew's training and approach to athlete development, gives us real depth in this department,” Islanders General Manager and Executive Vice President Mathieu Darche said. “Alongside Joe Erdos, they'll form a group we're confident will not only prepare our players to be strong and ready to compete over the course of a season but allow them to have great careers."

Marshall arrives with a deep résumé in the NHL and beyond. He is the Founder and Program Director of Milo Athletics, a high-performance training center in Mississauga, Ontario, and has built a reputation across North America as a sought-after performance coach.

His NHL experience spans 13 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, where he most recently worked as Director of Applied Sports Science. He has also worked with elite athletes through the Canucks, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, while also serving as a trusted private performance resource for many of the league’s top professionals.

Kacsor comes to Long Island after most recently serving as Head Performance Coach at Muskoka Hockey, where he ran off-ice training and athlete performance systems. His background blends strength and conditioning, movement science and mentorship, with a focus on explosiveness, resilience and consistency. He has also built individualized programs that tied physical preparation to on-ice performance.

Before that, Kacsor was Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League, a position he held since May 2020. He also previously served as Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Kunlun Red Star Women's Hockey League club and helped lead the team to a league championship in his first season in 2019.

Earlier in his career, Kacsor worked with Paragenix Systems, providing strength and conditioning services to amateur and professional athletes across the NHL, NBA, NFL, NCAA and OHL. He graduated from Laurentian University's Sport and Physical Education program and earned a postgraduate degree in Exercise Science and Lifestyle Management from the University of Guelph-Humber.

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