The New York Islanders are in the infancy of a massive offseason. They already let go of Lou Lamoriello and hired Mathieu Darch as the general manager and executive vice president. Darche decided to keep head coach Patrick Roy on board, but cleared out longtime Islanders assistants John McLean and Tommy Abelin. Now, they have added two coaches to the staff, former Colorado Avalanche assistant Ray Bennett and former Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner.
#Isles News: The New York Islanders announced today the hiring of Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner as Assistant Coaches. They will join Head Coach Patrick Roy’s staff, including returning Assistant Coach Benoit Desrosiers and Goaltending Coach Piero Greco.https://t.co/7ly2leNzYs
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 9, 2025
Boughner spent his playing career shuttling between the NHL and AHL. He played 630 games in the NHL across ten seasons with six different teams. Then, he joined the ownership group of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and was his president and head coach at different points. Starting in 2015, he joined the NHL coaching circles. Boughner spent two years as the Panthers’ head coach from 2016-2018 and three years as the Sharks’ head coach from 2019-2022.
Bennett has been an assistant coach in the NHL since 1999, spending time with the Kings, Blues, and the Avalanche. He won the 2022 Stanley Cup with Colorado and was recently let go by the team. The Islanders recently traded for Colorado’s top prospect, Calum Ritchie, so a familiar face could be important to the youngster’s development.
According to Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters, Boughner ran the penalty kill in Detroit during his most recent assistant role. Bennett was the power-play man for the Avalanche behind the bench. Colorado ranked eighth in power-play percentage while the Islanders finished 31st. Detroit, however, was the only team with a worse penalty kill than the Islanders.
Boughner and Bennett join Benoit Desrosiers and Piero Greco on the Islanders’ bench. They will try to get the most out of a group that Darche declared is good enough to be a playoff team.
The Islanders will pick first in the NHL Entry Draft on June 27.
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