EAST MEADOW, NY — After finishing the 2024-25 NHL regular season 31st on the power play (12/6%) and penalty kill (72.2%), New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche elected to relieve John MacLean and Tommy Albelin of their duties.
Darche, in tandem with head coach Patrick Roy, hired Ray Bennett, the Colorado Avalanche’s power-play coach, and Bob Boughner, the Detroit Red Wings penalty-kill coach.
Bennett & Boughner Join Islanders As Assistant Coaches
The Islanders have their coaching staff.
On Saturday, the Islanders practiced special teams for the first time, as there will be an added emphasis on these two units at training camp.
“I feel like [we] should have spent more time on the PK and power play in training camp,” Roy said last November when both units were struggling. “I’ll take part of the blame on this because maybe I could have put more emphasis on the power play and PK during the training camp, but here we are.”
There were three different variations of power-play units who hit the ice:
As for the penalty kill, there were different variations as well, with some guys playing on both special-teams units.
If the Islanders are going to get back into the playoffs after missing a season ago, both special teams units will need to improve.
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