BUFFALO, NY — On May 29, the New York Islanders announced that they had hired Jay McKee to be the first-ever head coach of the Hamilton Hammers, the club’s newest AHL affiliate.
Islanders Name Jay McKee Head Caoch Of Hamilton Hammers
Islanders Name Jay McKee Head Caoch Of Hamilton Hammers NHL veteran Jay McKee takes the reins for the franchise’s inaugural AHL season, bringing 802 games of experience to lead the Hammers following a successful tenure in Hamilton.
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McKee, who played 802 NHL games, has spent the last three seasons coaching the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs.
Top draft prospect Caleb Malhotra, the son of former NHLer and recently named Vancouver Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra, played this past season for McKee and had glowing things to say about the newest member of the Islanders organization.
“I learned a lot,” Malhotra said at the 2026 NHL Combine. “He’s extremely composed as a coach, very intelligent, and very detail-oriented. So, I mean, he expected so much from us. We had a very good team there, and we had to prove it night in and night out that we were detail-oriented. So, learning from him on how to approach the game and what to take out of video work and how to apply it to your game…that was a big thing this year.”
The Bridgeport Islanders, under the tutelage of Rocky Thompson, took massive strides after years of seeing prospects take steps back.
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Thompson was a player’s coach through and through but knew what he had to do to get players to play to the best of their abilities at a consistent rate and also keep themselves level-headed through adversity.
Because of his great work, Rocky was elevated to Pete DeBoer’s NHL coaching staff.
When the Islanders were looking for Rocky’s replacement, they needed to bring in someone who could build on the groundwork Rocky had just laid.
From all accounts, it sounds like McKee, who was a finalist for the Bellville Senators head coaching gig, is a slam-dunk hire at a critical time for the Islanders’ growing prospect pool.
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