Eight weeks from today, the New York Islanders will be battling the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena to kick off the 2025-26 season.
Might be a good time to remind folks that #Isles Opening Night is 8 weeks away! (#NYR and #NJDevils too) https://t.co/wXC8XGRbNP
— Eric Hornick (@ehornick) August 14, 2025
The Islanders have done a lot this summer — a lot — starting with the firing of Lou Lamoriello and hiring first-time general manager Mathieu Darche in his place.
Darche decided to keep head coach Patrick Roy, firing two of his three assistants — he kept Benoit Desrosiers — and adding Rick Bennett and Bob Boughner to the staff.
The Bridgeport Islanders coaching staff was gutted, moving on from Rick Kowalsky and hiring the fiery Rocky Thompson to change the culture down there.
Darche retained UFA forward Kyle Palmieri (two years) and UFA defensemen Adam Boqvist and Tony DeAngelo to one-year deals.
He traded RFA Noah Dobson, which really kick-started the summer of change, turning an underwhelming return into forward Victor Eklund (No. 16), defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson (No. 17) and cap space, also getting forward Emil Heineman.
He re-signed RFA forwards Simon Holmstrom, Heineman and Maxim Tsyplakov to two-year extensions.
Darche signed free agent forward Jonathan Drouin to a two-year deal, winning the Maxim Shabanov sweepstakes and signing him to a one-year entry-level contract.
Because of the question marks surrounding goaltender Semyon Varlamov, Darche got David Rittich on a one-year deal as an insurance policy.
We can add that Anthony Duclair will be back after taking a leave of absence due to injuries and inconsistencies.
Islanders Anthony Duclair Gives First Public Comments Since Taking Leave Of AbsenceWith eight games to go in the regular season, New York Islanders forward Anthony Duclair requested and was granted a leave of absence.
All that’s left between now and opening night is to take in rookie camp and then training camp, with the NHL roster mostly set.
Then, given all the wingers the Islanders have, it’s up to Darche — but mostly Roy — to decide how the lineup should be configured before the puck drops in Pittsburgh.
