Islanders coach Pete DeBoer tells Newsday that he is happy to prove the doubters wrong

GRAVENHURST, Ontario — Pete DeBoer knows the outside perception that his Islanders, who have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons, might not be very good again in his first full season as coach.

“That should be fuel to our group,” DeBoer told Newsday. “I know that fuels me.”

That’s also how he felt in his first seasons coaching the Devils and the Sharks, both of whom reached the Stanley Cup Final after missing the playoffs the previous season.

“There’s nothing better than proving people wrong,” DeBoer said in a one-on-one chat following Tuesday’s practice at Gravenhurst Centennial Centre in advance of Wednesday night’s season opener in Toronto. “When I went into Jersey, they had missed the playoffs the year before and supposedly were in a rebuild. When I went into San Jose it was a veteran group that had had success but everyone said the window was closing.

“I’m familiar with this type of situation and I kind of relish the opportunity to take this group and for all of us to prove people wrong.”

The Islanders mark the sixth NHL stop for DeBoer, 58, who was hired to replace Patrick Roy with four games remaining last season.

The Stars fired DeBoer in 2025 after three seasons despite a 149-68-29 regular-season record and three consecutive trips to the Western Conference finals. He’s also coached the Panthers (2008-11) and Vegas (2020-22) in addition to the Devils (2011-14) and Sharks (2015-19).

At this time last season, DeBoer was in Milan, Italy, doing advance work for the Winter Olympics in his role as a Team Canada assistant coach. It helped keep him occupied so he didn’t have to think about the fact he wasn’t behind an NHL bench.

“The juices are flowing and you get excitement,” DeBoer said. “Any time you’re coming into a season, particularly with a new group and I consider this new because I only had four games, there’s always excitement. Our job is to get this group to gel as quickly as possible and be hard to play against. Hopefully it happens quickly. My history with this has been we have to have some patience, it takes some time before your group is moving seamlessly around the ice without overthinking things.

“Is that Thanksgiving? Is it Christmas? I don’t know. But from the men in that room and the time I’ve spent with them, I have no doubt we’re going to get to that point.”

That confidence is reciprocal.

“I think it’s very similar to when Trotzy [Barry Trotz] came in (in 2018) after winning the Cup with Washington,” defenseman Adam Pelech told Newsday. “I had the same feeling after his first meetings. A coach with that winning pedigree, you always trust your coach and you always try to be coachable and do what they say but I think it just adds some confidence to the group when they’ve proven they can be very successful in this league.”

Right wing Emil Heineman quickly responded, “structure,” when asked by Newsday what stood out to him about DeBoer’s coaching.

“Right away when he came in last year he had a clear mind of what he wanted to change,” Heineman said. “Now that we’ve had some more time practice with it, I’m excited for what’s coming. We have a lot of skill, experience and a tight group that works for each other. I think with the structure that he’s implemented, it’s going to do well for us.”

DeBoer exudes a comfort and confidence in his coaching ability and his 663-450-152 career record is a result of that.

But he’s quick to admit he could never have imagined being hired six different times when he broke into the NHL as a 40-year-old coach with the Panthers.

“No, no,” DeBoer said. “I’ve always taken it day to day. I’ve always pinched myself at the privilege of working in this league and being one of 32 guys that have the opportunity to run a team. When you run it a little bit deeper and you get more experience, you really appreciate more of the day-to-day of it because you’re not going to do this forever.

“You appreciate the staffs. I love our coaching staff here. I love working for [general manager] Mathieu Darche. We’ve got great ownership and I’ve worked in places where some of those things aren’t in place and it can be miserable. This is an exciting place to be.”

Especially with the opportunity to prove others wrong.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.