Islanders reboot for season opener with new leadership and key additions
Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin sets us before a faceoff against the New York Rangers in a preseason game at UBS Arena on Sept. 29, 2025. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PITTSBURGH — The long offseason of introspection following a second playoff miss in four years and three weeks of training camp with a six-game preseason schedule are finally over. The Islanders open their new era under executive vice president/general manager Mathieu Darche, who took over after Lou Lamoriello ran the club for seven seasons, on Thursday night against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
A.k.a., No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer’s NHL debut.
“We have a great team,” the 18-year-old defenseman said after Wednesday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. “From the goalies to defense to forwards, I think we’re pretty deep. We have great guys on and off the ice. I think we have the team that can go pretty far.”
Darche’s leadership and Schaefer’s presence are the biggest factors in resetting the Islanders’ culture. But they won’t be the only newcomers in the season opener.
Free-agent signee Jonathan Drouin and Russian rookie Max Shabanov, who played the past three seasons in the KHL, are expected to bolster the offensive production, both five-on-five and on the power play. Wing Emil Heineman, acquired from the Canadiens in the Noah Dobson trade, has earned a top-six role for now. New assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner will run the power play and penalty kill, respectively.
“There’s always nervous excitement but I feel like it’s a team thing more than a personal thing,” said Drouin, who had 11 goals and 26 assists in 43 games for the Avalanche last season and has also played for the Lightning and Canadiens. “You want to get off on the right foot. You don’t want to be chasing a couple of teams.”
The Islanders finished 35-35-12 and missed the playoffs by nine points in coach Patrick Roy’s first full season. They have not won a playoff series since 2021.
“Brutal,” top-line center Bo Horvat said of missing the playoffs. “I had it so many times in Vancouver and then my first two years here making the playoffs felt great and rewarding. But it leaves some salt in the wound, too, when you don’t make it past the first round. Last year, not making it was even worse. So to get back to that feeling of being in playoff hockey is what’s been sticking with me and, hopefully, everybody else in this group.”
Adding Schaefer’s skating agility, speed, playmaking and ability to be responsible defensively should improve the Islanders.
“At the end of the day, you want to go as far as you can as a team,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think that’s just one person that’s going to do it. That’s the whole team.”
Schaefer added he was looking forward to playing in front of No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin, a Vezina Trophy runner-up in 2023 who went 30-24-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .907 save percentage last season.
Sorokin, who turned 30 in August, is entering his sixth NHL season and still has the side-to-side quickness and athleticism to bail out teammates.
“It’s definitely fun when you’re a defenseman and you have a goalie you can trust like that,” Schaefer said. “You want to limit the mistakes, but if you do make a mistake, there’s a good chance he’ll be helping me out back there.”
Notes & quotes: Rookie center Cal Ritchie (lower body) has resumed skating on his own . . . Roy confirmed defenseman Ryan Pulock and forward Kyle Palmieri will continue to rotate wearing an “A” as alternate captain, Pulock on the road and Palmieri for home games. Horvat will wear the other “A” for all games as Anders Lee enters his eighth season as captain.
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.
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