When Peter DeBoer took over the New York Islanders late in the season, his first priority wasn’t tweaking lines or adjusting matchups — it was identifying the biggest problem. And the answer, he said, was immediate and undeniable: defense.
Speaking on 100% Hockey with Millard and Shannon, DeBoer explained that once he got the job, he dove straight into the numbers. What he found stood out quickly. The Islanders ranked near the bottom of the league in expected goals against and high-danger chances allowed — metrics that pointed to a team giving up far too many quality opportunities.
“Defensively, we had to tighten things up immediately,” DeBoer said. “You’ve got a world-class goalie in net — let’s give him a chance to win us some games.”
That goalie, of course, is Ilya Sorokin, who often carried the team despite inconsistent play in front of him. For DeBoer, that imbalance is the starting point for change. Fixing the defensive structure isn’t just about preventing goals — it’s about maximizing one of the Islanders’ biggest strengths.
DeBoer made it clear that while scoring has been an issue, it’s secondary to building a foundation that can hold up every night. His philosophy isn’t about turning the Islanders into a passive, defense-only team. Instead, it’s about creating an identity that blends responsibility with the ability to attack.
“I think whatever you concentrate on as a coach bleeds into the players’ identity,” DeBoer said.
That identity, moving forward, will be built around being “hard to play against” defensively — not by sitting back, but by limiting mistakes, closing gaps, and controlling play. With emerging talent like Matthew Schaefer and a roster that still has offensive capability, DeBoer believes the two sides of the game can complement each other.
The goal isn’t perfection overnight. It’s progress that gives the Islanders a chance to win every night.
And for DeBoer, it starts with one thing: tightening everything up in their own end.